A New World on her Shoulders
by Flagarach
Summary: Instead of stopping Torchwick's dust robbery Ruby finds herself preventing an attempted kidnapping of an SDC official. As a result Ruby is offered to join Atlas Academy by Ironwood, Vale is seen as too dangerous for a Schnee, and Penny finds herself part of an actual huntress team. Back at Beacon Yang tries to make a team out of three (former) criminals. Now has a Tvtropes page.
1. Chapter 1-Start

Atlas, northernmost of the four kingdoms. Five months of cold and snow have passed, and even though the temperatures reach slightly above freezing point it hasn't been enough to melt the snow. A thick layer covers the buildings and streets of the capital, reminding many tourists of the winter wonderlands seen in snow globes. Still, even Atlas' frozen hart is slowly thawing out. It is March, after all.

March, month of new beginnings. When new recruits come to the four academies to become hunters, upholders of peace and protectors of the kingdoms. Most of Atlas academy's recruits come from the kingdom of Atlas itself. Of the four major academies it is the one with the lowest percentage of foreign students. There are a few exceptions. They're rare, but there exist those who choose to attend the northernmost academy from outside of Atlas: The other three kingdoms, Menagerie or the villages in between. Those who underwent this journey arrived at their destination today, the first day of the new academy year. The foreigners are stepping out of their respective bullheads at Atlas' airport, immediately becoming accustomed to the climate of their new home:

"I really should've packed some more clothing."

A young huntress by the name of Ruby Rose steps out of the bullhead from Vale, taking in the glory of the city of Atlas. A chill breeze makes her shiver, wishing that she wore an extra layer of clothing. She already had to change her stockings with specially padded ones, but it isn't enough to combat the cold weather of Atlas.

Using a flash of her semblance she traverses to a nearby public heater, warming her hands on the dust-infused device. Warmth, how can mankind live without it? O what bliss, how nice to feel heat return to the fingers!

With a goofy grin Ruby feels the cold fleet away. If it was up to her she could stay here for hours, but sadly enough she has other things to do. Today is her first day of school. Headmaster Ironwood, who prefers the title of general, gives the introduction speech for all the new students. Attendance is mandatory, and it wouldn't do Ruby good to start the first day of school with truancy!

"You don't appear to be from Atlas, miss."

A young male voice shakes Ruby out of her thoughts, making her turn to whomever spoke to her. Looking up to the voice Ruby sees a short, somewhat thin young man wearing a red vest with green pants, gloves and boots. Ruby cares more about what is on his back:

"Ohh, you have a bo staff on your back, and do I spot lightning dust crystals on both ends of your weapon? That's so cool, what other forms does it hold? Tell me tell m-" It is at this point that Ruby notices that she went full-on weapon nerd on the boy. "I, eh, mean, ehm, nice weapon you got there?"

Great, the first chance to make a friend in this unknown place and Ruby already ruined it. Now he's going to be all wierded out and think that she's creepy. He's probably already making an excuse to leave this conversation!

"Heh." Instead of the nightmarish possibilities thought up by Ruby she instead finds him giving her looks of intrigue. "People usually don't start their conversation by asking about someone's weapon."

He doesn't seem to mind the abnormal start, though. In a fluid motion the guy draws his staff, showing it off to Ruby. "Most of the staff is simple alloy steel, but the tips on both sides contain a lightning dust crystal. Getting hit with them while they're activated can be… shocking, so to say."

Ugh, really? One of the few good parts of coming to Atlas was getting away from all the puns and dad jokes at home. No one deserves to be subjected to such terrible wordplay! If he makes another pun like that Ruby will simply walk away, consequences be damned!

It's clear to the bo wielder that his pun didn't sit well with Ruby, so he goes back to what the girl is interested in: His, weapon, and what it can do. "Now, you've seen it function as a staff. However, with the flick of the wrist it can change into its other form."

As he said, he did. With a flick of the wrist the staff split into two, turning into two shorter sticks meant to be dual-wielded. "And this is the other form, a pair o-"

"Are those eskrima sticks? Wow, you don't really see people still using those. Most people that dual-wield just go all 'Ohh, I wanna look cool and badass with my many weapons, so I go with double swords or triple axes or however many my comic book hero uses', something like that. It's nice that people like you have appreciation for the underused weapons. I mean, I'm like, basically the same as you there when it comes to underappreciated weapons."

Ruby takes out her own weapon and shows it off to the bo user. Crescent Rose unfolds in its complete scythy glory, leaving her new friend awestruck. "Behold my beloved weapon, Crescent Rose! My baby is a high-caliber sniper-scythe, personally crafted and perfected by yours truly! Now it may not be as much of a shocker as your weapon but trust me when I say it won't 'cut' you some slack."

As soon as the words left her mouth she felt very dirty. Darn it all, she was supposed to be the one family member with a good sense of humor! O, how the funny have fallen! Sigh, at least this eskrima wielder lets out a chuckle at the joke. Ruby can't tell if he's merely being polite or not, but at least he's laughing.

"Well, it's been nice to talk about weapons for once. Nice to meet you, miss. The name's Robin Bates."

"I'm Ruby Rose! Uhm, nice to meet you too."

Seconds pass, with neither speaking. Ruby doesn't really know how to continue the conversation, seeing as her favorite topic has already been spoken off. What else is there to talk about? What would Robin be interested in talking about?

Nope, it's no good. Ruby's frozen up again. If only Yang was here to help her break the ice!

"Hey Ruby," Robin pulls Ruby out of her thoughts, making her glad that he's willing to continue the conversation. "was I right when I said that you weren't from around here?"

Oh yeah, he did ask that. Well, before Ruby changed the course of the conversation with her rambling about weapons. That changed the course of the conversation a lot.

"Ehm, yeah, I'm not from here. How did you know?"

"Well, you're practically hugging the heater. Considering how cold Atlas has been for the last five months, I would say that you either don't go out a lot or just arrived here from a very different location."

Ruby looks at herself and does notice that her hands are only a few inches away from touching the heater. Quickly she puts her hands behind her back, ignoring that her hands are now feeling quite a bit colder. "You're also gathered near this heater… are you also from far away?"

"I wouldn't say I come from that far away, since I'm a Mantle boy through and through. How about you, where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Patch. Born and raised there for my entire life!"

"Patch, that tiny island in front of Vale?" Ruby nods, making Robin look even more surprised. "I don't see many reasons why someone from there would choose Atlas over Beacon. What's your story?"

Well, he does want to know. Ruby sees no problem with regaling her tale to her new friend:

 _Okay, so, the first thing you should know about me is that I wasn't really planning to go to one of the four academies already. I mean, I'm only fifteen, I was supposed to go to my third year of preparatory combat school._

Robin raises an eyebrow at the last part. It isn't the first time he's heard of people taking up roles meant for people way older than them. It's still impressive to attend Atlas at such a young age, but he has seen similar things happen in his own neighborhood.

 _So, my life completely changed about two weeks ago. I was walking through the streets of Vale, just doing a bit of shopping, having fun, that kind of stuff. There was this limousine, surrounded on both sides by Atlas trucks, driving at the side of the road. I would've normally ignored it and keep on shopping, were it not for a sudden explosion! The front truck was blown up by a mine, whatever Atlesian knights were in there blown to shreds by the explosion! Out of the shadows these masked people from the White Fang appeared, having drawn their guns and firing them to scare the crowd away. So, I did what any huntress-in-training would do:_

 _I fought them!_

"That sounds incredibly dangerous and stupid."

"Yeah, I know, but if I didn't fight them then who would?" The reply is made with both confidence and slight anger, hoping that it will shut him up. This is her awesome story, and he shouldn't be interrupting it with any rude remarks! "Now, where was I…"

 _There were a bunch of goons, but I went all wham-blam-kaplow on them! I totally kicked their butt, and they were either knocked out or forced to run away with their tail between the legs!_

 _The androids from the undamaged truck stepped out, shooting and slashing at the baddies who I didn't beat down. They were mainly busy with protecting the limousine, while I was picking off any stragglers they missed._

 _Eventually one of their more skilled fighters came down to fight me, probably the leader considering how she wore a different outfit. So, I was then fighting this girl with really cute kitty ears, who came down to slash her katana at me! It was like, slash-slash-slash-slash-slash, she was super fast! She was slippery as well, each time I tried to hit her she disappeared and then suddenly reappeared a few feet away! She also transformed her weapon into a pistol to take a few potshots at me, and she could even turn it into a whip or a kusarigama. That weapon was so cool! If only we met under peace, I would've loved to see how that weapon was created! Maybe if we meet again I can ask her about how she can fire her weapon when she's using it as a whip!_

"You do realize you're now gushing about a member of the White Fang, right?"

Robin correctly points out the problem in Ruby's thought pattern, making the 15-year-old girl blush a bit. "Well, uhm, I was mainly talking about the weapon! I mean, yeah, she has a nice figure and is also a pretty good fighter, but she's a terrorist working with the White Fang. Those aren't exactly good people. Honestly, the only way for us to become friends is if she quit the Fang, but she didn't seem very willing to do so. But I do think that I made a step in the right direction:"

 _So I was busy fighting with that White Fang member, when suddenly she looked really distraught. I looked in the same direction as her, seeing that the battle was basically over: The androids were either destroyed or made unable to fight, while the White Fang had either fled or been knocked out. I think that by that time the two of us were the only fighters left._

 _She probably realized that whatever they were trying to pull failed, so she offered a truce. We would stop the fighting, and she would be allowed to flee with those still conscious. I agreed, so she ordered her friends to retreat. Those who could flee did, except for this one tall guy with red hair. He was all angry, shouting that "We shouldn't retreat for our cause!". It looked kind of dumb, really, considering that he had a few cuts and bruises. He probably lost all his aura in the fight, so I could take him even if I only had one arm!_

 _Well, as he said that, the remains of the spider droid he was leaning against crumbled, threatening to crush him. Under normal circumstances he would be dead, were it not for huntress extraordinaire Ruby Rose being on the scene! With her semblance of super speed, she rushed over to the man and pulled him away from the rubble in time!_

 _The big guy acted all grumbly, and was like: "Tsk, in that case I'll retreat for now". But I think that the girl gave me a genuine smile for saving her buddy. So yeah, I made a friend there… maybe. Or an enemy. Frenemy? Well, I made something like that… I think._

Robin smiled upon hearing that last part. Saving others, even if they're the enemy… making sure that no one dies… "I think you did a great job, Ruby."

"You mean that?" Ruby's eyes beamed with happiness, not expecting to be praised like that. With a proud smile she raises her head, happy that someone recognizes her value. "In fact, you're not the first one to say so."

 _When I went over to the limousine to see if everyone was okay, there was this guy in a white suit with white hair. He was praising me as well, though he said it real formally. He went all "Yes, I see, I must say that you have performed exceptionally well considering your age.", something like that. I introduced myself to him, and he wanted to repay me for saving his life._

 _Of course, I went all "Nah, I want to be a huntress who aids others, and helping is its own reward". He chuckled at that and said he would keep that promise._

"And then what? How did you get here?"

"Jeez, I was just getting to that!"

 _So, the next day, I got a call from an unknown number. When I answered I was facetiming with General Ironwood himself! He said that the white-haired guy filmed some of my fighting and showed it off to the general. Ironwood also heard about my wish to become a huntress, so he made me an offer: I would be allowed to join Atlas academy two years early, with all tuition costs paid for by that white-haired guy. I had to talk it over with my dad and my sister, who had their own opinion about it, but they eventually accepted, and that's why I'm here!_

"Quite impressive. I just took the standard route: join one of the preparatory tests back at my old school in Mantle and obtain a strong enough recommendation to be allowed access."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, that way is a bit more normal. Doing it like I did just separates you from all the friends and family you previously knew." Yep, Ruby is all alone in a new world, a special case that's probably going to create a lot of attention at the academy.

Maybe she should've been a bit more selfish and asked that white-haired businessman for the newest game console instead…

Robin shrugs off the thoughts of specialty or normalcy. "It's Atlas academy. Sure, you're considered a prodigy, but we're all equal huntsmen-in-training there. You already get along with one of your future classmates, keep this up and you'll make the entire continent your friend!"

Heh. Ruby gives a small laugh at that idea. Making friends with everyone on the continent? Were it not for that being an obvious joke from Robin, Ruby would've blanked out. Getting along with literally millions of people is impossible!

"I guess I can always try." It is what Yang would say, after all. Just step up and talk to them. It might go wrong sometimes, but most of the time you walk away with a friend. "Thanks, Robin."

"No problem." Robin takes a quick glance at his scroll, eyes filled with shock when he notices how late it is. "I need to go now, I need to meet up with a few other friends of mine. I'll see you later!" Robin takes his leave, and Ruby is alone once more. Still, all in all this little talk wasn't too bad.

"Well… I think I made a friend." That means that the score for today is at +1. Keep this up every day, and maybe Ruby might someday have a full group of friends!

Ruby sticks to the public heater for a few more minutes, trying to enjoy a few more slivers of warmth. As unbearable as the cold is, Ruby still needs to traverse through it towards the academy. There will be the speech of her new headmaster, and most importantly there's food and shelter from the cold! It's time for the red reaper to set out into the city of Atlas!

One and a half hours later and Ruby is still walking. Finding the academy is not that hard. It is literally in the center of the city in the clouds. Even though it was quite a distance she did manage to arrive on academy grounds. The only distraction were the five minutes spend to check out this small restaurant that piqued her interest. The banner desert of that store is a heap of chocolate chip cookie dough with milk espuma! Ruby knows where she is going to bring her future team for city outings!

No, the problem lies with the academy itself. First problem: It's huge! Even compared to the boxy skyscrapers of Atlas this building is gigantic. Going through this entire place would take her hours! Secondly, the lay-out is annoying. Altas Academy consists out of five towers, which unlike Beacon don't have any connection with one another. Which tower is correct? Lastly, Ruby doesn't exactly know where she should be. She does have a pamphlet in her hands titled "Atlas wants you!", but it only tells the number of the room the opening is held. It doesn't tell Ruby anything, and honestly she's a bit too afraid to ask a random stranger where she's supposed to go.

Ruby starts to walk faster and faster through the academy. She takes twists and turns, goes up and down the stairs and elevators, all to try and scout a large enough area of the academy that she will eventually reach her destination. With a lack of time to think out her possibilities it's the best plan she has available.

Walking becomes running, running becomes using her semblance to sprint. Every step faster than the previous, ever movement faster, until-

*BAM*

…it all comes to an abrupt stop. Ruby has bumped into something while turning a corner, and her back has now collided with the floor of the academy.

Ow… that was a painful encounter. It's like she ran into some metal wall, because that really hurt a lot!

Ruby looks at what she ran into, and she doesn't find a metal wall.

"Salutations!"

Instead she ran into another girl. A few inches taller than Ruby, with orange hair and green eyes. The most remarkable aspect is her choice of attire, as a thin blouse and overall does not seem like the best choice of clothing for freezing temperatures.

Another point of interest is that even though the two walked into another, only Ruby saw the need to get up. The orange-haired girl is still lying down on the floor. "Ehm… hello? Is everything all right?"

"I am fully operational. Thank you for asking."

Yeah… this girl is weird. Like, really weird. Ruby has been called that before, but this girl tops everything said about Ruby!

"Are you… going to stand back up?"

It stays silent for a moment, as the girl considers her options. Does she not want to get up? Is she sick, suffering from some mental illn-

"Yes!" With a kip-up she gets right back on her feet, causing Ruby to take a small step back. "My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Ruby. Ehm, nice to meet you, Penny." Slowly she shuffles away from Penny, half wishing to get away from this weird girl and half realizing that she has something else to do: "I'm sorry Penny, but I need to get to assembly hall 'N901'. General Ironwood is supposed to give a speech to all the new students, and I don't want to be late to the introduction."

"I believe you are in the wrong section of the academy." Penny states calmly. "You are currently located in the southern tower, where the research laboratoria are located. If you need to go to hall N-9-0-1, you need to be on the top floor of the northern tower."

"O, thank you!" At least now she knows where she needs to be! Hang on, top of the northern tower? And she's currently in the southern tower. Ironwood's speech is supposed to start in five minutes! "Am I going to make that in time?"

"Using hallways and stairways at an average running pace will take you on average 7 minutes and 30 seconds." Penny answers for Ruby. Ruby didn't ask her worries as a question for Penny specifically, but the ginger-haired girl is more than willing to explain. "General Ironwood's speech will start in" Penny takes a moment of silence, as she is stuck in thought. "4 minutes and 33 seconds. You will not be in time for the speech."

What? How did Penny know all that so precisely? No wait, never mind that, did she just say that she's going to be late for the introduction? Okay, this is bad, really really bad, now what does she do? Uhm, uhm, uhm, argh! All this is causing a stress out!

"Do not worry, Ruby! There are still possibilities where you can be in time. I am willing to be of assistance in this problem."

"…Thank you?"

"That answer is accepted as an affirmation!" Penny tightly grips Ruby's wrist, causing the red huntress-in-training to be surprised at this girl's strength. When Penny walks towards her perceived solution Ruby can do nothing but get dragged along.

Penny doesn't take Ruby down the elevator, where the hub is located that connects all five of Atlas Academy's towers. Instead Penny drags Ruby up a flight of stairs. This confuses Ruby, who doesn't understand how this gets them to the northern tower. When she tries to ask Penny all Ruby gets is a "Trust me".

Ugh, today is turning into a mess. "If only Yang were here…"

"Ruby?" Penny walks a bit slower, next to Ruby as she asks her question: "What is this Yang you are talking about?"

Oh, did she say that out loud? Well, no choice but to explain then: "Yang is my sister." Ruby continues to talk about her family, about dad and mom, about how they went to the same preparatory combat school, and how they're now split up between Atlas and Beacon. It's a small story with many details left out, but it seems to have strung something within Penny.

"Your family sounds grand, Ruby! The only family I have is my father. Any siblings I would have are not born yet." That… is an interesting way of calling yourself an only child. "I've spend most of my life with no other contacts than him."

Poor Penny. To live your entire live with barely any other human contact… it does kind of explain her eccentric behavior, though. Well, if Ruby has anything to say about it that limited contact will decrease right here and now: "Well, if you want to, I could become another contact."

"You want to spend more time together?" Penny looks surprised at this, as if she never expected someone to want such a thing. Really, someone with such a negative opinion of herself really needs to be cheered up.

"Yes, Penny, I wouldn't mind that." If this makes Penny happy, then Ruby will not reject it. Seeing the small smile growing on Penny's face makes it all worth it. Penny seems to come to the same conclusion but needs one more step of confirmation.

"Does this mean that we are friends now?"

Ruby's instincts warn her of accepting it so easily. Yang would say no. Dad would say no too, just like uncle Qrow, or any of her friends from Signal. With that in mind she does the only thing that makes sense to her:

"Uhm… sure?"

Penny face lights up like a child in a candy store, unable to believe what she's hearing. "Sensational! Friend Ruby, let us hang out, shop for clothes and paint our nails together!"

Penny is… a bright person. Not bright as in smart: she's doesn't seem very world-wise, and she's also kinda weird. She is bright in her optimism, her constant happiness on her face and easy willingness to hang out with others. Ruby can respect and appreciate that. Weird as it is, Ruby's not against having Penny as a friend. Including Robin that's 2 new friends on the first day, that's a lot better than her first day back at Signal!

Heh. If Penny is this happy and optimistic, then who is Ruby to say no? "Well, we do have some time after initiation. Maybe our teams could go out into the city together?"

"Teams…" Penny mulls over the word, a small tinge of sadness unable to stay hidden from her friend. It's just a fraction of a second, long enough for Ruby to notice but not long enough to act upon. "Yes, we will meet again with our *hic* teams!"

The two girls reach the top floor, which is half-filled with scientists performing research. As far as Ruby can tell most of the research on this floor is done towards robotics. Penny pulls Ruby towards the edge of the floor, which is completely lined with glass panels. The view from this place is amazing, though the main tower of the academy is a bit in the way. Penny is almost at the edge, but suddenly she stops as someone calls out her name.

"Oh." She looks away, to some scientist sitting in a quadruped robot chair. A bespectacled man in his late fifties of average build, with greying blonde hair and beard. A pristine white lab coat covers most of his body, the rest covered by a standard Atlesian uniform. Penny glances back at her new friend, a wide smile on her face as she makes a small request: "Friend Ruby, may I introduce you to my father?"

Ruby doesn't mind, but it looks like Penny's father took the initiative as he uses his mechanical chair to walk towards the two girls.

"Penny, there you are! We've been looking for you all over the tower." Then he notices the other girl, who is dragged along. "Oh, and who are you, miss…"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose. I'm a new friend of your daughter, Penny. Ehm, nice to meet you?" Ruby would give the man a hand, but Penny is still gripping hers tightly.

Penny's father quirks an eyebrow at Ruby's declaration, before letting out a chuckle. "I see that you've made a new friend Penny!" Penny nods, and Pietro turns his attention back to Ruby. "My name is Pietro Polendina. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"Eheheh." Ruby blushes a bit, before pointing out that it's the opposite. "Actually, I think that Penny is taking care of me."

This intrigues Pietro a bit, and Penny explains how she promised to help Ruby arrive on time for the opening ceremony for the new students. Pietro looks a bit surprised, not sure how Penny can still help Ruby. "But the ceremony is starting in a minute. What are you trying to d-" It dawns on Pietro, just what her daughter is planning. "Penny, no!"

Penny registers her father's admonishment, but doesn't listen as she opens one of the windows. The cold air streams in, causing Ruby to let out a small shiver. "I'm sorry, father." Penny apologizes, "I'm afraid that I have a prior assignment to fulfill."

Penny's backpack opens, which Ruby is pretty sure didn't exist five seconds ago, and a multitude of swords come flying out. Ruby ogles at this marvelous sight. Penny wields fourteen flying swords that are controlled by some unknown mechanism, making Ruby remember some of her earlier words from today:

" _Ohh, I wanna look cool and badass with my many weapons, so I go with double swords or triple axes or however many my comic book hero uses."_

Okay, yeah, forget that Ruby ever said that. Those swords look badass, if Ruby may say so herself. How does Penny control them, is this some sort of telekinesis semblance? O, this knowledge does need to be shared with the world!

Just as Ruby thinks that she cannot be amazed any further by Penny the swords merge together, turning into a jetpack equipped to Penny's back.

"Wow, Penny, that's amazing! How did your weapons just, well, do that?"

"We must move now if you want to be on time for the ceremony, Ruby." Penny lays her hand around Ruby's shoulder, looking like a gesture of affection. Ruby would almost hug back were it not for Penny suddenly using her other hand to sweep Ruby's legs off the ground, carrying the little reaper like a newlywedded bride. "Let us talk about our weapons while we are flying!"

"Eh-wha-" Oh no, Ruby has started to blush. To be suddenly lifted like this, it's really embarrassing. How can Penny just do things like, well, t-that! This is a bit too close for Ruby's liking!

"Ready for takeoff! Father, I'll be back soon!" The jetpack on Penny's back ignites, at g-forces too fast for an auraless person to handle. In just a few seconds the duo is flying high above the academy, giving Ruby a beautiful view of Atlas itself. From up here she can see everything! The academy, the mountains, the skyscrapers, even that beautiful mansion on one of the city's hills! This place truly is awe-inspiring!

It's enough to make someone want to float freely in the air. To relax, take it all in, and enjoy a blissful moment. Were it not for the speech coming up in less then a minute Ruby would have let all her worries disappear.

"My weapons were designed by my father. He specially created these for me. I can use them as swords or combine them into guns or a jetpack." Oh yeah, Penny did promise to explain all about her weapon. "I control which form they take using thin carbon fibers attached to the weapons."

"So." Ruby mills over Penny's words, trying to form some coherent formulas. Carbon fiber is a useful material, with the best affinity for lightning, water and gravity dust. While gravity would be the obvious choice to gravitate the swords, having 14 different items with their own gravitational fields would mean that controlling the blades is neigh-impossible. That leaves only one way to use the swords. "Then you use lightning dust to change the polarity of the fiber cables and make specific gestures to change the polarity and thus the movement of the blades, right?

Penny appears to have a hard time processing what Ruby said. Did she just make such an elaborate guess based only on her using carbon fibers? She goes over everything Ruby said, comparing it to the data she has of her weapons. "What you have said… is correct. How did you know all that, Ruby?"

"Well, heh, you see, I'm kind of a weapon nut. I made my own weapon, so I know a thing or two about materials and how to use them with dust."

"That is very impressive!" As far as Ruby can tell, the admiration Penny holds is genuine. The orange-haired girl carefully examines Ruby, trying to find the one piece of evidence missing to Ruby's story. If she made her own weapon, then where is it located? Penny shifts her grip on Ruby's body a bit, eventually feeling an iron barrel on Ruby's back. "I see you carry your own weapon. Can you show me what it is?"

Ruby's emotions turn so positive that it looks like she's been abandoned in a cookie store. Can it be? Might Penny be interested in Crescent Rose? Has Ruby somehow found two people on this floating city interested in her weapon? Someone pinch her, because Ruby must be dreaming!

"My weapon is my beautiful Crescent Rose!" Ruby pulls out her weapon from her back but doesn't fold it out in its full glory, leaving it in its folded state. "It's a high-caliber sniper-scythe. Considering its full size, I don't think it's smart to unfold it up here."

What would happen if the tip of her scythe hooks the jetpack and destroys one of the wings? Crashing into the ground is not her preferable method of getting injured. If possible, she would like to stay unharmed and safely arrive on her destination in time.

Even though Penny couldn't see the full majesty of the sniper-scythe she still seems very impressed with the weapon. "It is a phenomenal idea to keep the weapon stored, Ruby. I must say that your weapon looks spectacular. Its colors go very well with those of your clothes."

"Thanks! You have some very nice clothes as well, Penny, but aren't you cold in that? If I wore that I would be down with a cold tomorrow."

"Cold?" Penny says with confusion, almost not understanding the possibility. "Do not worry, Ruby. The cold never bothered me anyway."

"Well, if you say so…"

The conversation falls silent, nobody saying anything. It's a good thing, as they've arrived at their goal. All of the five towers of Atlas academy have a top floor with glass windows on all sides. Penny and Ruby entered the air from the top floor of the southern tower, and they need to go to the top floor of the northern tower. They're looking through the windows, where Ironwood is about to start his speech. It looks like Penny was right, they're just in time! The only problem is that there's no way to get inside. Ruby asks how her new friend wants to solve this.

"Do not worry friend Ruby, I have a solution for this problem!"

Penny firmly takes Ruby's arm and starts to throw the entirety of her weight backwards, holding Ruby behind her. She arches her entire body, as if she's trying to hold a javelin. The only difference is that instead of a javelin Penny is wielding a person, who is getting a pretty good idea of what her friend's plan is:

"Are-are you going to throw me?"

"Yes!"

Uh oh. This is not going to be fun.

Unleashing her stored energy Penny throws Ruby at the window, causing the 15-year-old huntress to fly at blinding speeds. She braces herself for impact, crossing her arms in front of her face and activating her aura to take the blow for her.

The window breaks from the impact, shattering shards of glass down inside. Ruby can see General Ironwood standing in the middle of an elevated platform, looking absolutely astonished at the interruption of his speech. He's not the only one, as many students are equally astonished. All the hundred or so new students of the academy-hey, is that Robin there in the corner?

Ruby was focused too much on this little sight to notice that she was falling into the stands, right where other people were sitting. Some are quick and wise enough to retreat. Others are not so lucky, as they're right there at the impact of the female meteor. With a loud crash she breaks into hall, her only luck being that something soft broke her fall.

"Ow! What do you think you are doing, you dolt? Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous stunt you just pulled? What is someone like you even doing here?"

Ruby looks up, still dazed from the landing, to find herself on top of another girl. One with long white hair and pale blue eyes that give a very angry glare. She's not the only one staring at the red huntress in training, as basically everyone in the room wants to see just what exactly crashed the introduction. Ruby can feel herself tensing up, all the attention being way too much for her. If this is how her academy life starts…

…then her time as a student at Atlas is going to be four long years…

* * *

Yang can't decide if she should be happy or sad. Sure, she's been accepted into Beacon, considered to be the most prestigious of the four combat schools. Now that she's in the airship she feels ready to start her new life and become a huntress. Still, it's rather weird to consider that she's not the only family member to make the big step up. Her little sister made the same step… but to a different school on a different continent.

Okay, it's not an eternal goodbye. Their paths will likely cross several times, the soonest being the upcoming Vytal festival that starts in half a year. But! If Ruby went the normal path they would only be separated for two years, with Yang being a third-year as Ruby made her entrance into Beacon. But now, two years younger than everyone else on a continent where she's never been before? Yang can't help but feel worried for her little sister.

Yang sets herself down on one of the benches to the side of the airship. Absentmindedly she stares at her scroll. Ruby should be arriving in Atlas soon. Will everything be all right? Ruby has trouble making new friends, and she freezes up in larger groups of people. Hopefully her little sis can send a text soon, telling Yang all about how her first day at Atlas went. Maybe, in a best case scenario, she already made a new friend.

A news report makes Yang turn her focus away from Ruby, and towards more local problems. " _Another local shop, "From Dust 'til Dawn", has been robbed by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick. This criminal's plot went unopposed and he continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."_

The news gives Yang a wry smile, her thoughts turning a little bit more positive. "Well, at least she doesn't have to worry about any master criminals at Atlas."

"Worrying about your sister again?" A voice calls Yang over, making Yang look at her old friends from Signal.

Yang's friends are rather… generic. Honestly, the best way to describe most of them is as silhouettes that accentuate the sunny little dragon. Rather weak too, considering that Yang can beat all of them at the same time. Considering that they all received average scores for combat classes in Signal is enough of to tell how much of a power difference there is between an average student and someone at the top. When it's time to find a partner the minimum strength needed to stand at the brawler's side is at least the level of one of Junior's twins. O, if only her actual friends could fight like that… or if those two could be a bit more fun, either's fine.

"Eh, you know how it is." With a small heave she stands up, greeting her friends on equal terms. "Rubes just moved up two years and is attending Atlas. She's going to be the bee's knees there!" Yang can't exactly show weakness in front of her friends, what would they think of her if she did? "Of course, I'm not planning to make my Beacon debut any less interesting!"

A few groans come from her friends, who already have an inkling what Yang is planning. "Please tell me that you're not going to literally set the training room on fire."

"Why not? Wouldn't that be lit?" A-Wink wink. Yang is selling her pun to the audience and finds nothing more than exasperated sighs. If her friends were carrying tomatoes Yang's face would now be covered in red mush.

Before anyone can comment on the joke the room goes silent, as one hologram in the middle of the airship shows the image of the deputy headmistress of Beacon.

" _Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are amongst the select few who have been selected to attend this prestigious academy."_

Select few, huh? Yang looks over her friends once more, as well as the other people in the ship. It's enough to make her chuckle a bit. The sloppy posture, the poorly cared for weapons, if this is the "select few" Yang wonders how bad ordinary people must be!

" _We live in a time of unparalleled peace, and as huntsmen and huntresses, it's your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it's our turn to provide you with knowledge and the training to protect our world."_

Eh, so long as it's fun, Yang has no problems with being a keeper of peace. Just give her some adventure, some good fights, an unpredictable future full of action! If that can be arranged, Yang's not against doing her job as a huntress.

Yeah, that's going to be her future now, just like how it's going to be Ruby's future. They will both, in their own way, become huntresses. Ruby with her team at Atlas, and Yang back here at Beacon. When they meet again Ruby is going to show off just how much better she became. Quite literally too, considering it will be at the Vytal festival where if luck has it they will face off against each other in the tournament. Yeah, Yang's going to need to step up her game if she wants to keep her respect as "big sister".

"Well then little sis, I guess I'll become a huntress that makes even you green with envy!"

*Blargh*

A few feet to Yang's right is a tall, scraggly, blond-haired boy, bent over and barfing on the floor. Geez, guess someone's a little airsick. His entire face turned green from the sickness, and he doesn't seem done yet.

"On second thought, maybe I shouldn't go with the color green." Yeah, just because Yang is going to be one kickass huntress-in-training does not mean that Ruby should end up as vomit boy. Perhaps the little sister should see pink of embarrassment? Red of rage? Maybe shocked white?

"Yang," the brawler snaps out of her thoughts to see her friends staring at her. Now that she looks at her surroundings, there are more people staring than just her friends, all to the same spot: "your shoes…" Her friends point downward before stepping a few feet away from their blond friend. A single gaze is enough to see that Yang is currently standing in green, gooey puke.

Not her boots! Gross gross gross gross gross! So, so gross! Ew! Damn it!

This school life is the worst!

* * *

 **A/N:** **I would like to make a small caveat about this story. Personally, I'm not that big of a fan of making OC's. However, considering that when this first chapter was written (Mid-Volume 6) we only know 5 canon members of Atlas academy (Ironwood, Penny, Ciel, Flynt and Neon), a few extras need to be created to fill in the blanks. The focus of the Atlas part of the story still lies with Ruby, Weiss, Penny and Ciel.**

 **There was little Yang in this chapter because, well, little interesting happened before Ozpin's speech. Both chapters have the same order: pre-speech, post-speech, pre-initiation, initiation, post-initiation etc. If little happens on one side, then little happens. Yang's team at Beacon will have more importance in future chapters.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 1-1

Ruby looks at the girl on the floor in front of her. Two angry blue eyes stare her down, a fury in them that even Yang barely reaches in her angriest moments. The mind of the young girl from Patch immediately shuts into apologizing mode as she mutters a string of apologies.

"O just get off of me, you brute!"

"Right! I'll get off now." With a small burst of her semblance Ruby gets up. She stands next to the other girl, hand outstretched to help the unfortunate victim up.

The hand is rejected, as this girl gets up on her own. Dusting off her clothes she gives another harsh stare at the window crasher, before starting in what sounds like a long tirade about Ruby's stupidity:

"What were you thinking?!" Yeah, she's mad alright. Ugh, this is even worse than an angry Yang. Physical attacks are a lot easier to dodge than words like these. "Honestly, in all of my life, not once have I seen anyone as stupi-"

" _Ahem!"_

The room turns silent as the voice of general Ironwood booms through the auditorium, enhanced by the microphone he's speaking into. Even the angry girl shuts up immediately, cowed by his authority.

" _It appears that there has been a small… interruption of the speech."_

Small? Considering the amount of pressure Ruby feels from her peers looking down on her small isn't the first word that come to mind.

" _I expect all of you to calm down and return to your seats. As for miss Rose, I expect you in my office after the speech. Now take a seat and stay silent."_

Uh oh. Someone's in trouble. Ruby realizes all too well that she's starting school with a dark note, and a rather gloomy reputation. There goes the chance to have a normal start at the academy…

Silently she walks away from the angry white-haired girl, passing some others towards an empty seat at the edge of the row. The other students stop staring and return to their respective seats, refocusing their gaze on the headmaster. Hard-light dust automatically repairs the broken window, preventing the cold from Atlas streaming into the building. As Ironwood sees that everything is unmoving and quiet once more, he resumes his speech from the beginning:

" _Now, I am Headmaster James Ironwood, as you all know, and behind me stand many of the teachers who help me run this academy. It is our mission to train each one of you to become a huntsman. A huntsman is characterized as one who possesses the highest virtues, a shining example to all who look upon them. A hero, someone who protects everyone from the grimm."_

Exactly! The speech bring Ruby out of her downward thought, as she imagines herself as future huntress extraordinaire. Ironwood understands exactly what a huntsman is, the same description as in Ruby's starry-eyed dreams. Oh, Ruby can already see herself join their illustrious ranks!

" _But you are not huntsman yet. Until you graduate you will follow our orders, respect the huntsmen supporting you, and constantly strife to be the best in everything that you do. The hallmarks of a huntsman are discipline and spirit, and we will teach you discipline and spirit! What we expect you to do is to give it hundred percent in everything you do, obey the commands of your teachers willingly and without question, treat all huntsmen and huntsmen-in-training with courtesy and respect, and always be honest with others!"_

 _A huntsman never lies, steals, cheats or compromises. You will work hard to improve yourselves, so you can be proud of the uniform you'll wear and be proud of the huntsman you'll become!"_

Proud of becoming a huntsman, absolutely. Pride in the uniform on the other hand is a bit of a question. The drab grey uniform is easily the ugliest of the four academy's uniforms, and Shade doesn't even have a uniform! Seriously, couldn't Atlas introduce some plaid for the skirts like Haven and Beacon did? It would look a lot nicer!

" _Know that the path you'll follow is hard and arduous. Look around you and know that some of the people you will know as friends, as teammates, as partners, will not survive graduation. If you feel scared, know that there is no shame in returning now. Not everyone is meant for the front lines of war. However, when you're done with initiation and accepted your responsibilities, you will neither give up nor quit. Atlas promises to turn all of you into Huntsmen!"_

Ironwood leaves the stage, letting the students ponder over the words spoken by their new headmaster.

The speech overall is rather… militaristic. It shows that Ironwood is not merely a headmaster, but also a respected general of the military. Let's just hope that students aren't woken up at five in the morning with buckets of cold water or forced to randomly drop down and give two hundred. Yeah, just the thought of such military regime is enough to make Ruby shudder.

" _Students."_

A deep voice with a heavy Atlesian accent refocuses everyone's attention to the podium: A new man has taken the mike, slightly shorter than the general but quite a bit more muscular.

" _My name is Colt Schwarzen, combat instructor at Atlas academy."_

That's a teacher?! He wears black shades, a spiked leather jacket and equally leather pants. How did this biker manage to become one of the prodigious teachers at Atlas academy?

" _Initiation is tomorrow. You will receive food in 90 minutes at mess hall C902. Temporary sleeping quarters are located in training rooms C1303 and C1304. Further questions will wait until after your rest. Then, I'll be back."_

The instructor leaves the podium, thus ending the speech. The crowd scatters, as everyone uses the free time to do what they want. Especially the girl Ruby landed on before the speech left quickly, happy to finally get away from the annoying meteor.

It's time to move for the red-hooded girl as well. She leaves the assembly hall, heading to the tower on top of which general Ironwood's office is located. Sigh, time to face the headmaster's punishment.

When Ruby arrives at the office on top of the tower she isn't very surprised: General Ironwood's office is exactly what you expect from a military leader. Minimalistic, practical, functional. There's a single bureau with a basic swivel chair behind it, a large glass window overseeing the city behind it, and a single bookshelf to the side with a bunch of books in it. The only surprising part of this office is that some of the books don't seem to fit with a hardened general, considering he has titles like "Remnant's fairytales" and "Myths through the Ages".

Ironwood has seated himself in his own chair, and gestures for Ruby to stand in front of the desk. Ruby does as told, not resisting. She's already aware of what crimes she's facing, so silently she awaits the general's scolding.

"So…" Ironwood grumbles, clearly not happy with how his speech was disrupted, "care to inform me why you thought it was a good idea to jump through a window and disrupt the first day of school?"

"Well, I, uhm," Yeah, how to bring the fact that she was thrown in by another student without tattling on Penny? "There were… circumstances…" Ugh, how to make this sound believable without betraying Penny? "I was lost in the academy, almost late for the speech, and someone helped me with getting in through… unconventional methods…"

"In other words, this someone else threw you through the window, correct?"

Eep, he's hit it right on the nose! Okay, now what? "Yes, uhm, that is correct, sir."

"So, would you mind telling me who this second person involved is?"

"I don't think that it's right to say her name."

"Not willing to betray others is a commendable action, miss Rose, but also naïve." Ironwood stands up from his chair, looking out of the large windows of his tower. "I am the general of Atlas, the person burdened with protecting an entire country. To do so, I need information. Without knowledge of the truth criminals can't be persecuted, grimm cannot be slain, and terrorists would gain free reign."

Wow, someone sounds a bit overly dramatic. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit, sir general? And isn't tattling considered a bad thing?"

"That tattling has a bad name is the work of criminals and liars! Because they force people to stay silent in the face of evil, they run free and create chaos. If all people would keep the truth silent, then there would be no more control, no more order, and Atlas. Will. Fall!" The last words are shouted with passion as he slams his desk, the sound causing Ironwood to realize that he needs to calm down. With a few deep breaths he takes his seat back, continuing the conversation in a calmer tempo:

"Miss Rose, prosperity and peace don't come from the major decisions made by generals and leaders. It's in the small choices, made by honest people, who choose to do the right thing. I expect you to do the same."

As much as Ruby hate to implicate others, Ironwood's speech does hit a few grains of truth. Sorry, Penny… "Her name's Penny Polendina. I think that she's a student here at the academy."

"It was Pietro's daughter. Of course, that's the only thing that makes sense." Ironwood sinks into his chair, a large amount of tension dropping from his shoulders. Those words lift the heavy air from the room. Even Ruby sees the lighter expression on the General's face, making her too feel a bit of relief. "Tell me, miss Rose, what is your opinion of young miss Polendina?"

Penny's relation to Ruby… it's an interesting question. There's many things that can be spoken of, but Ruby focuses on what comes directly to mind:

"She's kind, optimistic, and willing to help others. She's sometimes acting a bit weird, but I still enjoy hanging out with her. I don't really know what else to say, but she's one of the few friends I currently have in this academy."

At hearing this James smiles deeply, his expression turning warm. It's like he never expected Penny to make any friends whatsoever.

"Miss Rose, you know that as headmaster I am in charge of the initiation tomorrow, right?" Ruby nods, unsure where this conversation is going. Could her punishment for breaking the window be related to tomorrow? Is her test going to be extra hard now?

"Do not worry, this isn't a bad thing for you." Ironwood seems to recognize the fear in Ruby's expression and is doing his best to calm her. Instead of punishment he has a reward to offer to the student from Patch: "I would like to make a proposition: You have met Penny, and know about her eccentricities that she can be a bit, well…"

"Abnormal? Not very world-wise?"

"Yes, that what you speak of. Due to circumstances regarding the Polendinas, she has a few… issues. She's a genius when it comes to fighting or learning, but she never had the chance to learn social skills. While her father wishes for her to attend this academy, I am still not entirely convinced she can succeed within a team."

Thus far headmaster Ironwood's complaints make sense, but Ruby doesn't understand how she fits in. "And you explain this to me because…?"

"As I told you, I can influence the initiation here and there. If I told you that I can guarantee that you end up with Penny as your partner, would you accept?"

Ah, so that's where Ruby comes in! To do something like that, hmm… "So, you want to cheat the system for Penny's sake?"

"I guess that is an apt description, yes, even though I would prefer to call it manipulating the initiation's boundaries. So, would you accept?"

This possibility… Ruby wouldn't have to worry about finding a good teammate. Penny is a nice person, and if Ironwood describes her as a fighting genius then she's strong too. It sounds perfect.

"I…I'm sorry, but I cannot."

Ironwood looks with surprise at his student. There is no logical reason to decline, no reason to say no. But for Ruby, accepting such a tactic is unacceptable. In fact, Ironwood himself gave the reason why Ruby must decline this offer:

"Do you remember what you said during the introduction speech? ' _A huntsman never lies, steals, cheats or compromises.'_ What you're asking of me now, would not be the actions of a huntsman, a hero, or a general. As much as I would love to be paired up with Penny, I will find my partner fair and square."

Ironwood lets out a laugh, realizing that he's been beat with his own words. If all the new huntsmen would take to his words this well, the future of Remnant will be bright indeed.

"Very well then, miss Rose. For the record, it is imperative to know this last part of the conversation never officially happened. As for breaking the window and interrupting the opening speech, I will not give you any punishment. I believe that you have and will be punished enough for that. I'll have a talk with Pietro about replacing the window, but you're free to go. Dismissed."

Ruby ponders over Ironwood's last words as she takes the elevator down the staff tower. Already punished enough? What does Ironwood mean with that? She didn't receive any detention, doesn't have to do any menial service… as far as Ruby knows she got off scot-free!

It is when she arrives at the bottom floor of the tower that she is proven wrong, Ruby's punishment standing outside of the elevator.

"You!"

Ah. Right, the angry white-haired girl who was used as Ruby's pillow during her crash. Meeting her again is indeed punishment enough. Ruby wants to slip away, but this doesn't look like the problem she can run from. The other maiden here is a tad too adamant telling Ruby about all of her mistakes:

"What were you thinking? Jumping through the window during general Ironwood's speech and literally crashing into the student body, are you even of the right mind?"

"Ehm, sorry?"

"Sorry?" That does not sound like an apology accepted… "You interrupted the age-old traditional speech to all new students here at Atlas! In all of Atlas' eighty years of academic history this is the first time there has been such an interruption! This is an incident without compare!"

Wait, it's that bad? And doesn't this mean that Ruby just made history? First person to interrupt the Atlas introduction speech; It's not how Ruby expected to end in the history books, but it might be an interesting side note in the autobiography of her life.

*snap*

The loud snapping of fingers brings Ruby out of her thoughts, only to find the angry girl even angrier. "Are you actually listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? I expect that headmaster Ironwood has given you a harsh briefing on the effects of your childish pranks."

"Again, I'm really, really sorry. I… don't think it makes you feel any better, but I wasn't specifically aiming to hit you, you know. As for the headmaster, he's seen that there were some… outside causes to this incident and let me start my student time here without any punishment."

"You? A student here at Atlas?" Yeah, the disbelief in her voice is obvious. With the terrible first impression Ruby made it's no wonder that she won't be considered all that mature. "You're a kid of, like, fourteen at best!"

"I'm fifteen! And yeah, I know that I'm young, princess." The annoyed and gruff "Hey!" that Ruby forced this spoiled girl to shout at her causes a small flinch, but also feels quite cathartic. "I mean, I got in this academy two years early by stopping a White Fang assault on some Atlas big shot while he was in Vale." And honestly, even though that man shares the same hair and eye color as this girl his personality is miles better! If only those two were family, and some of the niceness would flow down on this girl!

"?!"

It is at those words that the white-haired girl seems to react with intrigue. She seems to be quite familiar with what Ruby said and wants to know a bit more. "You… what is your name?"

"The name's Ruby Rose." Ruby extends her hand in reconciliation, hoping that this name sharing leads to the two of them ending this conversation on a positive note. "What's yours?"

The other girl notably does not accept the handshake, instead sighing in annoyance. "You really don't know, do you? I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company."

Yeah, the name says nothing to Ruby. Patch is quite the remote island, and she spend almost no time on globalization. Maybe she's kind of a big deal here in Atlas, but for Ruby Weiss is just another huntress-in-training.

Weiss notices this as well, and simply shrugs it off as the red reaper being a dunce. Considering that she crashed through a window, even with "outside circumstances", means Weiss' assessment can't be that wrong.

A moment of silence passes between the two, having nothing left to say to each other. Of course, that won't do for Ruby. The relationship between the two hasn't been mended yet, and Ruby would like for the two of them to leave on a positive note if possible. So, to extend the conversation she does the only things she knows.

"So, I've got this thing." Crescent Rose unfolds in all its glory, the tip of the blade slamming into the ground right in front of Weiss. The heiress jumps backwards with a yelp, staring at the oversized weapon that was created from apparently nowhere.

"What the-what is that thing?!"

"It's a customizable high-impact sniper scythe. Made her myself." Yep, how can Ruby not be proud of her own creation? Now, what does the heiress have up her sleeves? "So… what's yours?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

Wait, that's not a type of weapon Ruby knows-oh, she didn't mean it like that. "Is… something wrong, Weiss?"

"Beyond drawing your weapon in front of the elevator to the general's office, which is a profoundly stupid thing to do, what I mean is that you're supposed to have stored your weapon in your assigned locker by now!"

"Oh." With a dejected sigh Ruby folds her weapon back up, returning it to its original storage location. "Really?"

"Really." Weiss almost groans in frustration. How can someone be both advanced enough to enter a huntsman academy two years early yet have the social capabilities of a grade schooler? What, is Ruby secretly a robot created by the top Atlesian scientists to fight grimm and imitate real life?

…

Okay, probably not, something like that still belongs in the realm of fantasy. There are a few more key factors that are way more possible and likely to explain parts of Ruby's problem. "Though, I suppose it can't be helped in your case. With your late arrival and your talk with general Ironwood I doubt you've had any time to do so. Therefore, here."

From one of the pockets of her dress Weiss takes out a small pamphlet, and hands it over to Ruby. The younger girl takes it and looks it over reading the title out loud: "Map of Atlas Academy?"

"Correct." Weiss forces Ruby to open the piece of paper, where she begins pointing at several important locations. With some rattling she explains all the things that Ruby needs to do in the upcoming hour before dinner. Ruby eagerly thanks her for the advice, which Weiss callously waves off as the greater naturally helping the lesser. It's a bit insulting, but Ruby is grateful for the help anyways.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have my own business to attend to with general Ironwood." Weiss walks past Ruby, opening the button of the elevator. Since no one else used the transportation machine the door immediately opens for the white-haired girl.

Ruby wouldn't mind, but she has still one question left: "Uhm, Weiss? Are you not mad at me anymore for, well, what happened earlier?"

The question falls on deaf ears, as Weiss doesn't turn around to give an answer. The doors of the elevator close, and Ruby can only sadly watch as the numbers on the elevator display rise higher and higher, miss ice queen getting further and further out of her grasp. Solemnly Ruby walks away from the tower, as that lack of answer does not indicate much good for their relationship.

Now that the confrontation with the heiress is over it is time for Ruby to do her prescribed duties: Storing Crescent Rose and her meager collection of dust within her assigned locker, obtaining the Wi-Fi password for the academy grounds (Atl4s#), registering her student ID on her scroll, and finally, obtaining dinner at the mess hall.

The food is rather simplistic. It's clear that this mess hall is mainly meant to serve snacks and lunch, rather than dinner for an entire student body. This means Ruby's "dinner" consists out of a few slices of pizza, a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a large carton of milk. It's not exactly a healthy meal like dad makes, but it will do for now. Besides, cookies for dinner is something that Ruby always wanted to try out!

Looking around Ruby doesn't recognize anyone at the other tables. It's not really a surprise, the only students on this continent she knows are Penny, Robin and technically Weiss. With the former two out of sight and the latter still being on bad terms with Ruby, there's nothing to do for the red reaper but to take a seat at one of the empty tables and eat her meal in silence. A third of the way through she finds that she will spend the rest of her dinner in silence no more:

"Why hello there, window crasher!" Next to Ruby a tall, muscular man takes his seat, greeting her with slight mockery. It's clear that this guy is not from Atlas either, considering his entire outfit screams Vacuan: A blue Hawaii shirt over dark denim pants, with a pair of blue suede shoes.

"Ehm, hi?"

"Don't be so shy now. The name's Elvio Jayhouse, just another student like you."

"Oh, I'm Ruby Rose, nice to meet you!" Is this perhaps another chance to make a friend? That would be incredible! Ruby offers her hand in friendship, hoping to create her third friend of the day.

Elvio seems to have other plans, using his right hand to run through his pompadour instead of shaking on the friendship. His gaze is focused on her food, more specifically the slices of pizza on Ruby's tray. His grubby hand reaches over to grab one of them. Ruby manages to foil his plan by shoving the tray to away from this guy, something that seems to irritate him.

"Uhm, could you not try to grab my food?" Welp, Elvio does not seem to be of the friendly type. Ruby is afraid that she's attracted the wrong kind of people this time.

"Come now, surely you have something left for your new friend, right?" The Vacuan guy swings his arm around Ruby, leaning closer to make the situation appear like some twisted version of camaraderie. It is more of a very uncomfortable half-hug, one that Ruby wants to get out very quickly.

"I… don't think we count as friends, though…" There's multiple possibilities to describe their apparent relation. Bully and victim, Huntress-in-training and parasite, Ruby and guy Ruby really doesn't like; Friends doesn't really appear on the list.

"Now, don't be cruel. Didn't you listen to the speech you crashed into: 'Respect the huntsmen supporting you'. So, how about you show me a little respect?"

Okay, you're taking general Ironwood's speech way out of context! Ruby is pretty sure that that isn't what he meant with respect!

Elvio grabs one of the cookies… or tries to, as he finds that the cookie is very quickly shoved into Ruby's mouth. Each time he tries to grab some of the food, Ruby manages to grab the food before him. By the time Elvio finally manages to take and eat a cookie Ruby has finished the rest of the cookie plate.

Too bad, Elvio, but you chose the wrong target for your bullying. In the Xiao Long-Rose household, nobody can finish food faster than Ruby Rose! You're trying to outspeed someone whose semblance is literally speed!

With most of the meal gone Elvio didn't manage to eat much more than a cookie, a far cry from what he planned. Ruby gulps the last mouthful of her meal down, using the moment to give her would-be bully a little taunt.

"What, not fast enough to catch up with me?"

"Why you little-"

"She's got you there, Elvio." A second male of around Elvio's height, his outfit being just as Vacuan as the bully, enters the scene. The bully recognizes his friend, making his face turn both in annoyance and relief.

"Jacin…"

The newcomer straightens his jacket, before offering Ruby his single gloved right hand. "Jacin Michaelis. I'm a long-time friend of the idiot over here."

Ruby accepts the shake, identifying herself as Ruby Rose. Thus far this guy doesn't seem too bad. Sure, he's friends with a bully, but that doesn't mean that he's automatically a bully, right?

"Now Elvio, what exactly were you doing? Trying to extract food from others again?"

"Does it matter?" Elvio backs off a step or two, away from Ruby's seat. He's still staying nearby, angrily glaring at Ruby. While Ruby stays wary of the big guy she focuses on Jacin, who gives her a friendly smile while tipping his fedora.

"So, you all right?"

"Ehm, I'm fine, thanks. Is he always like that?"

"Yeah, that's standard Elvio. I really apologize for his behavior. Sometimes I wonder if he's lost a few brain cells."

True, Elvio doesn't seem like the brightest guy of the bunch. But perhaps that's where Jacin comes in, set him on the right path?

"What can I say about him? No matter how much he tries, he'll stay a common bully. But as for me, I guess I'm a smooth criminal."

Jacin literally punches Ruby out of the seat, making her crash into the floor with a loud smack. The carton of milk got toppled in the strike, its contents now dripping on the floor. Several students look up from their own meal at the attack, but none of them seem very intent on getting involved in the mess.

"Now beat it, kid!"

Ruby lies flat on the floor, just barely outside of the puddle of milk that's forming next to her. In a bit of a daze she looks up, seeing Elvio enjoy one of her slices of pizza while Jacin is giving a smirk to his friend. Okay, someone needs to teach these two a lesson. If Ruby had Crescent Rose with her then these two would have their asses kicked by now, but unarmed… What would Yang do in such a situation?

Wait, she did say something useful during those few hand-to-hand lessons she forced on Ruby: Something something grab low to topple, right? As much as Ruby hates to say it, maybe it's time to take those hand-to-hand lessons to heart.

Ruby grabs the shins of Elvio and dashes forward from her crouched position. A small burst of her semblance is enough to topple the giant. Elvio is about to prove an old saying true: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. With a loud crush he smacks into the ground, his shirt soaked in the milk that dripped on the ground.

With a smile of satisfaction Ruby looks at her victory over the dazed bully. Justice was swift, painful and probably delicious too if she could've finished her dinner. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. Now to go back to dinner and enjoy what remains of her pizza.

"Poor choice, girl."

Ah, right, multiple bullies. It's just like before, except now the element of surprise is lost… And Ruby is disarmed… and not very ready. Jacin calmly walks over to the red huntress, cracking his knuckles and neck in anticipation. "You know, I don't really like people who mess with me or my friends. Oh well, I guess I did always pick up Elvio's slack."

Okay, did Jacin's glove just turn into a gauntlet? Going into a hand-to-hand combat with a random huntsman-in-training is already a bad move for Ruby. Fighting someone who specializes into close-quarters-combat is akin to suicide. Ruby has only one good solution left for this situation:

Run!

Ruby flees through the dinner room and into one of the hallways, taking a corner or two before stopping. She finally takes a moment to assess her situation: On the bright side, no more bullies. On the less bright side, she's caused another scene which people will remember her by. Also, there's no more food, and she'll probably go hungry tonight.

With a sigh Ruby slumps down on a nearby bench, wallowing in self-pity. Absolutely nothing went right today! Okay, nothing went right after arriving at the school. Penny and Robin are both nice, so that's a plus. Still, the way things are going these will be the only pluses in her entire academy life.

"Uhm, hey." Ruby vision changes, as someone shoves a hotdog under her nose. Looking up from her seat Ruby sees the holder of the hotdog, a dark-skinned dog faunus with short black hair, a small friendly smile on his face. "I saw what happened with those bullies and thought you could use some new food."

"Well, thanks?" Ruby accepts the hotdog, still warm to the touch. The faunus holds a second one in his hands, probably intended for himself. "Uhm, I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose."

"Otto Moore. I've kind of been in the same boat as you. Back in preparatory school, those two were kind of the same as now. Picking on those who they thought were easy targets, like me."

"So, they'll try to bully the two of us together?" You know what they say, shared pain is halved pain. At least she might get a friend out of this bullying problem.

"Oh, no, not at all!" Frantically Otto tries to correct that mistake, his arms swinging wildly behind him as he tries to loosen his connection with bullying. "I mean, yeah, they're bullies, but they only go after easy targets. Considering what you did to Elvio's shirt, you're probably not on the list of easy targets anymore."

"Well, that's good." At least that solves the bullying problem, right?

"Oh, though they might try to exact revenge once or twice for what you did. I would look out for things like having a nest of rapier wasps placed inside your locket."

"That's… less good." The bullying continues, at least for a little while. Great, just great. On the other hand, if Otto knows all this, does that mean… "So, you also kicked their butts in some epic way?"

"Well, sorta." Even though he admits to doing so he doesn't exactly look proud of it. Going by the slight reddening of his cheeks it seems more like he's embarrassed by it. "I mean, yeah, I was involved in it, but I had some outside hel-"

"Otto, are you done with your accessory matter? It is best for us to move on to our next location."

From behind the corner a new soul appears, this time a girl with slightly lighter skin than Otto, and short hair shaded more navy than black. Dressed in an outfit of white and blue, through the most noticeable feature of hers is the golden marking on her forehead.

Otto recognizes her as well, the two dog ears on his head pressing down against the skull as he sheepishly started to apologize. "Oh, uhm, sorry sis. I know that we're busy, but can we spend a few more minutes here?" He gestures to Ruby, indicating that she's worth the time. It's a warming gesture that gives Ruby a bit of hope.

Otto's sister looks up from her watch, giving a quick glance out of a nearby window. "We can allocate three minutes on… her." The girl gives a small bow to Ruby, introducing herself as Ciel Soleil. Ruby returns the favor by introducing herself back with a small wave of her hand.

"So, you two are siblings?" Considering that Otto's a faunus, and Ciel appears to be human, there's something weird going on. Sure, Ciel could be hiding a pair of ears under that beret, improbable as that is, but there's also the issue of the different surnames.

Luckily Ciel is there to give the correct explanation. "Half-siblings. Same father. Different mothers."

Well, that sounds oddly familiar. "That's just like with me and Yang!" Small hints of confusion appear on the sibling's faces, telling Ruby that she skipped a step or two: "Oh, right, you guys don't know who Yang is. See, I also have a half-sister, Yang, and she's the best sis ever! Uhm, no offense to you, Ciel."

"None taken."

"So, you probably also got some awesome family stories to tell. I mean, me and my sister once created a massive sudden dance party at our prep school, which was hilarious! Well, except for the teachers, but for the students it was fun! How about you, do you have any cool stories together?"

"Not at all." Ciel shoots that idea down quicker that most gunslingers can draw, as Otto awkwardly looks away. "Our family bonds appear to be more subdued than you are used to."

"Eh?" That makes no sense. Blood runs thicker than water. Ruby doesn't know what she wouldn't do for her own sister, and other family she knew on patch were the same. How can Ciel be so callous about her brother? "But he's the one you've probably spent your whole life with, right? Doesn't that sort of make him like a best friend?"

"Our situation is a bit different, Ruby." Otto sighs, clearly not liking where this conversation is heading. "We've grown up in… different circumstances, due to having different mothers."

"But you have the same dad, right?" Ruby doesn't seem to notice the sour mood in the vicinity, and continues with pressing the siblings on their apparently strained relation: "Shouldn't your dad love you two equally much, and take care of both of you?"

Ciel flinches at that line, and Otto look like he's about to cry from recalling some unpleasant memories. Ciel puts her hand on her brother's shoulder, trying to say that all is fine. This seems to calm him down enough to explain his situation to Ruby:

"I'm… a bastard." Well, there's a bombshell Ruby did not expect to be dropped! "Dad had an interest in a cute faunus girl he saw working in the mines. He promised her a life where she didn't have to go into the mines again, if she became his mistress. She agreed, and all seemed well. He got his kicks, and she got money. At least, until my mom got pregnant, at around the same time as his actual wife."

Otto's voice takes on a somber tone, the words coming from his mouth trembling. "Dad noticed she was pregnant, and… and dumped her on the streets, breaking all contact forever."

That's…. that's horrible! "How could any person do such a terrible thing?!" Just straight up abandoning a single mother with a child? Who is heartless enough to do that?

"Because it was legal." Ciel's interruption is cold and mechanical, simply stating fact. "Faunus rights in Atlas are the weakest of all four kingdoms, and seventeen years ago its conditions were… considerably worse."

It's all made clear to Ruby: Back then, a Faunus wasn't counted as equal. Their father could, if he wanted to, simply force the woman into his house and kept her as a slave. Nobody would bat an eye over it. Even though she sired him children, he would only need to pay child support if one of the children was a human. With Otto being born a faunus, the mother had no law to support her.

Ruby shudders in rage, unable to hide her anger. This isn't a matter of faunus and human. How can any person dump their child in the street without any repercussion? That's not right. That shouldn't be right!

Otto gives a sympathetic look to Ruby, glad that some people seem to understand the injustice that still exists on Remnant. With a smile he explains that the world improved a lot since then:

"The old White Fang, the peaceful one, did some good stuff for us faunus. In practice, we've got the same rights as humans, and the law applies equally to both races. Still, there's a lot that needs to be done before we're fully equal."

"But, what happened to you still isn't right. Why don't people do something about it?" If it was up to Ruby, she would've changed things immediately!

"How can one person change an entire kingdom?" Well, you see… Okay, Ciel's question is a good one. Ruby thinks about the possibilities, how someone like her could change Atlas. What can she do? Uhm…

"I… don't know. I can't make everything ok with the snap of my fingers." There is no grand solution, no absolute masterplan towards success. Ruby knows this, that life isn't a fairytale. However: "But we can still try, and little by little try to make it a better place. That's why I'm here. That's why we're here, right?"

"Yeah, it's exactly as you say." Otto's tone turns from mournful to hopeful, as he explains plans that are just like Ruby imagines: "I'm aware that Atlas isn't exactly… kind to faunus. Still, there are enough of my kind to look up to! Take miss Neon from team Funky or miss Evelyn from team Jade: Both are powerful huntresses-in-training, part of perhaps the best teams of their years, and treated just fine by their teammates. I want to be the similar, a hero that inspires the young faunus that even in Atlas they can dream big."

"Well, that's a nice dream, though. I hope that you can make it come true."

Otto lets out a small, happy laugh at that. Silently he contemplates the compliment, before wishing Ruby the same. There's no sign of any racism or inequality here, as faunus and human simply laugh with each other and have a good time.

"Otto, it has been exactly three minutes." But every happy moment must have its end. Ciel walks up to her brother, impatiently tapping her watch. "Miss Rose, I'm afraid that we have to go now." The sister grabs her brother by the shoulder, dragging him along towards their goal. Otto can only give a small goodbye before joining her sister, clearly intending to stay on her good side.

Now all alone, Ruby unwraps her hotdog and takes a bite out of her new meal. It tastes like friendship.

After this simple dinner it's time to go to the training room. With the surname Rose she gets to sleep in training room C1304, just like all other students with a last name starting with N-Z. The room is mostly black and empty, thanks to training rooms in Atlas utilizing hard-light dust to create training environments. The empty floor has been filled with bedsheets, the room now being transformed into what looks like a giant sleepover party. Ruby grabs her bedroll and takes an empty spot as far away as possible from those two bullies she met before. Her spot is a bit away from the center and away from people she knows, but at least her neighbors don't appear to be the bothering type.

It's time to prepare herself for sleep. First there's the hygienic problems that need to be solved: Brush her teeth, comb her hair, put on her pajamas, all so she can cleanly enter her bedroll. Then there are a few social things she needs to do. She did promise to write letters to her old friends at Signal, after all. Even though they won't be seeing each other for a long time, it wouldn't do to water that bond down.

Though, there's one person who is even more important than her own friends, and it's also the first person that needs to be contacted. Ruby steps away from her bedroll and moves over to the hallway. Ruby navigates her way through the list of contacts on her scroll, looking for one specific name almost at the bottom of the list. With her first day over it is time for Ruby to keep her promise and contact her. With a press of the touch screen the scroll tries to connect for a call. With hundreds of miles between them it takes some time, but finally the person on the other side picks up:

" _Ruby!"_ The voice of Ruby's sister sounds brightly through the speaker, happy that her little sister finally made contact.

"Hey there sis, you won't believe how my first day at Atlas went."

* * *

"Well, it's been good to hear from you Rubes. Sleep tight!" Yang puts away her phone, having just spoken for almost twenty minutes with her sister. She's got to admit; Ruby's start is a lot more awesome than her own. Crashing through the window and interrupting the headmaster's speech? Forced to enter the headmaster's office before school starts? Getting into a fight with would-be bullies? Man, that sounds way better than her own start!

Yang just hung out with her friends, listened to Ozpin's relatively short speech, had an uneventful dinner and was ready to go to bed were it not for her sister calling her. It's telling that the most exiting part of the day is listening to someone else's badass day.

At least tomorrow will be better. Initiation, where one of the other people in the room will become her partner for four years, and two more to form a tight team with. And most importantly, a test so secret that nobody knows what exactly they will be tested on, with only uncertain rumors whispered between gossiping students.

Oh, that is going to be so much fun! It only leaves the question who she wants to be partnered with.

Yang returns to the ballroom, standing just outside of the door to glance over the dozens of sleeping bags at all the new initiates. Most of them remind her of her own friends, relatively ordinary people who lack the special qualities Yang is looking for. Still, there are enough around to consider interesting.

There's a trio of guys with nice looks, all of them half-naked and letting Yang obtain some nice eye-candy. And over there, walking away from the doorway, is a blonde guy and wow! He is ripped! If a guy's that muscular then having him as a partner wouldn't be so bad.

The muscular guy turns around an-ew, his face is completely pudgy and fattish! Yeah, Yang should reevaluate the guys in the room, that blondie is a total letdown.

Maybe there's a good pick among the girls… well, there's this hyperactive orange-haired girl who seem to be of the same brawlerish attitude as Yang. Given how she's hanging around a single man who only seems to smile when around her makes it very clear that Yang shouldn't come between those lovers. There's also this survivalist type who looks strong, but considering her hair is shorter than most men means that they won't be discussing hair styling tips any time soon. And there in the corner is another cute gal with a bow on her head, read-

"Ehm, excuse me?" From behind Yang someone tries to get her attention, tapping lightly on the blonde brawler's shoulder: "You're kind of blocking the doorway and I want to go back to my mattress."

Yang recognizes that voice, of perhaps the one male she would rather not get paired up with considering his current record: "Sure thing, vomit boy, go right pas-oh my gpfff…" Yang can't help but chuckle at what she's seeing: "Nice sleeping wear, bunny boy."

Really, what the hell is he wearing? That… thing, for lack of a better word, is a blue onesie styled after a rabbit, complete with blue bunny slippers.

Can you someone say "I'm a dork" any clearer than by simply wearing that outfit? Maybe if he were a girl or at least ten years younger it would be considered somewhat cute. For tall, blond and scraggly here? It just proves that during initiation Yang should stay as far away as possible from him.

"Well, it's a limited-edition Pumpkin's Pete onesie. I had to empty thirty cereal boxes to get my hands on one of these."

Okay, that makes it even worse. He actively had to work hard to obtain it? And by emptying cereal boxes, no less? Ladies and Gentlemen, we've found our dork of the year! It takes all of Yang's might not to roll over laughing. Bunny boy doesn't seem to notice, and continues with his own introduction:

"Anyway, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, and the ladies love it."

Okay, that last line is the limit. Yang can't hold her laughter in anymore, that cheesy pick-up line being too much for her already grinning body. A loud laughter echoes into the hallway, some of the other students in the ballroom giving the two blondes a glance before returning to their business.

"Hahaha, sorry Jauny, but vomit boy is just as short and sweet, and this lady finds it a lot funnier."

"Hey, I'll have you know that motion sickness is a much more common problem then most people let on. What if I called you, uhm, lion mane?"

Ohh, that a rather cool nickname! Yang isn't the only one who thinks so, as even bunny boy considers it not much of an insult.

"Okay, never mind that. What I mean to say is, I'm cool enough not to be defined by such a nickname. I'll make people love the name Jaune Arc!"

"Oh? How about we put that to the test:" If he's going to make such a claim, then who is Yang not to get a bit of fun out of it? Yang takes Jaune into the ballroom, pointing at the bow-wearing girl she noticed before Jaune interrupted. "See that girl reading there? I'll bet ten lien that you and your name cannot bring a happy smile on her face."

"Oh yeah?!" An Arc turns out to be easily agitated, as he agrees al too easily. "Then be prepared to part with your money, ehm… okay, this may sound bad, but please tell me I didn't forget your name already?"

Right, the name exchange only occurred in one direction. Time to set that right: "Don't worry about it. The name's Yang Xiao Long."

"Then be prepared to part with your money, Yang!" Confidently Jaune struts towards the reading girl, while Yang returns to her bag in the middle of the room. From there she has the perfect opportunity to view this upcoming fiasco:

"Hey there."

Bunny boy starts with a simple opener, just to introduce his presence. While his words are trying hard, his looks are greatly hindering him:

"Nice… outfit." It appears that our bow-wearing heroine feels more disgust than laughter at the sight of that abominable outfit. Eh, guess humor's not for everyone.

"The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue and the ladies love it."

And vomit boy's hilarious attempt at a pick-up line failed… miserably. The other girl doesn't even look up from her book anymore, seeming rather intent on ignoring everything that might distract her from her book.

"So, uhm, I saw you sitting here, all alone, and I was thinking you might get a bit… lonely?"

"Don't worry. I'm good." Let's hope Jaune can translate those four words to 'You're a bother, so bugger off and let me read.' If he does, then Yang will be ten lien richer.

"Well, uhm, okay. I mean, I know you're reading…" Okay, this failure is starting to get almost hilarious. There's no possibility of him even winning the bet anymore.

"Hey, is that 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' you're reading?" Jaune points to the book in Blake's hand, recognizing the content of those leather-bound pages. "The story about a man with two conflicting souls?"

…except for maybe that.

Blake shoots a curious glance at bunny boy, surprised by his knowledge. "You read this book?" The way she intonated that sounded more like she's surprised about bunny boy reading at all, let alone reading literature of that level.

"Well, I have seven sisters, including two book nerds and a librarian. I've picked up a few of their hobbies, including reading books. The one you're reading now is an absolute favorite of Jade, and when she read it for me when I was younger I loved how she could really put the emotions in both souls."

"I agree that it's a good book. But… its spiritual successor, 'The man with Two Souls' is a lot better. It helps that in the latter there's no clear good soul and bad soul, just two morally grey people who each want to fulfill their own goal."

"But what's wrong with stories with a clear good and evil? I mean, aren't we the heroes to the Grimm's villains?"

Yang could only stare at the duo. Bunny boy… no, he can't be called that anymore. Jaune has successful managed to charm miss cool and mellow over there! Ah shit, she's smiling! Okay, Yang can say goodbye to her ten lien, but it was ten lien surprisingly well spend. Let's see how far he manages to get with her:

"But we don't fight just grimm, Jaune. From criminals to revolutionaries, people who live outside of the kingdom's rules are hunted down by huntsmen. Huntsmen follow the rules, and the rules aren't perfect or good."

"But we're not soldiers who are forced to follow them, right? We're huntsmen. Heroes, fighters of justice, and protectors of the good and innocent!"

Jaune subconsciously moved into the superhero pose, acting like he's from some sappy comic book. Blake notices this as well, letting out a small chuckle at his goofiness.

"From what children's book did you get that line?"

"No, I…It's from 'The Prince in White'." Blake recognizes the book. It's a simple book for children around the age of twelve. It centers around a single, overly manly hero who keeps doing the right thing and protect the kingdoms from harm. In Blake's opinion it's overly reliant on action to keep the kids engaged, and from the looks of it Jaune also realizes that it's literary trash. "Look: When I was a kid, most of those books I read were not because they were good, but because they made me think 'Wow, that sounds super cool!'.

"That's not a necessarily a bad thing."

"For the most part, yes. Though when you're young, there are books that sound way more awesome then they appear to be." Jaune turns embarrassed, not quite happy to talk about the next segment of his past: "There was this book called 'Ninjas of Love' my older sisters loved. I thought to give it a try, I mean, it featured ninjas of all things! I was expecting an epic ninja story, and instead I got-"

"Yeah, I know where this is going…" Blake is perfectly aware of the further context of that book, her face turning just as red as Jaune's.

The two say nothing to each other, trying to work away their embarrassment over old and new memories. It's a moment of silence that's perfect for Yang to butt in.

"Why hello there you two!" Both Jaune and the girl look at the newcomer, who has an eager smile on her face. "Looks like you've got a good conversation going!"

"Well, at least we had." Ouch. Looks like our mysterious girl doesn't like the sudden introduction of Yang. Now, that's not how it's supposed to be, right? When Yang's on the scene, everyone should be smiling. Time to outdo Jaune in the 'making mystery girl smile' department!

"What can I say? I'm an amazing party crasher." Hire now, and she'll smash up a bar of your choosing for free!

"Ehm, why are you here, Yang?" Jaune is wondering aloud, though there's a bit of a smirk forming on his face. Don't worry, Jaune, Yang didn't forget that you won the bet.

"Oh, just looking at how you're doing, pal." Well, pal might be a bit much. They're acquaintances at best, but Jaune's a nice guy… as long as he stays the hell out of Yang's team. "So, how are the two book lovers?"

"We were just fine." Considering those words are practically spat at Yang, it's clear that dark and gloomy doesn't like the new intrusion. Instead she turns to Jaune, the more tolerable of the blondes: "Jaune, are your other sisters this annoying?"

The two blondes give each other incredulous stares, unable to comprehend what they're hearing. Them… siblings? Eww!

Jaune is the first to try and clarify the situation, the words quickly rambling from his mouth: "Nonono, we're not siblings!" Yang is quick to follow his words up:

"And before you ask, no, I just met him today. Sure, we're both blondes, but otherwise we look nothing alike." True, Ruby looks about as much like family as Jaune, but at least Ruby's not a dork… most of the time. Some of the time. "Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao-Long have as much relation to each other as we do to you…" Huh, another name that went unasked for. It seems to happen often today.

"Blake."

"Well then, Blake, nice to meet you! Exited for tomorrow, initiation and all?"

The woman in black's answer is a curt negative, mellowly telling that she doesn't really care. Instead she focuses on the book in her hands, too busy with reading to give any real answers anymore.

"Hey, who knows what will happen? Perhaps you'll be swept of your feet by some prince charming as your partner?" Yang nudges Jaune in the side, making the intent of her words obvious. "Maybe some blonde who likes books, huh?"

"Not my interest." Much to Jaune's disappointment he gets bluntly rejected by Blake, who continues to read her book during the conversation.

"Well, you can't exactly stay alone. Otherwise you partner up with someone you completely don't know."

"I sincerely doubt that."

If she's not afraid of ending up alone… "So, do you already have your eye on someone you want to partner with tomorrow, Blake?" Perhaps it's Yang? It would be a better choice then Jaune over here. Charisma brings you only so far in life, and Yang enough of that in store that she doesn't run dry soon!

Reminiscence can be read from Blake's face, who went on a small trip down memory lane to drag up some nostalgic thoughts. "I do have a friend here with me."

"But… you're sitting here all lonesome." Jaune looks rather confused by the situation. He gives a glance to the empty sleeping bags next to Blake, trying to deduce the situation. "So, I thought you came to this school, well, alone?"

"Who said she's alone?"

The trio look up, not expecting someone else to join in the conversation: A tanned woman with darker spots on her arms, legs and face. Grayish-blue eyes look warily at the two blondes as she finishes combing the ends of her long brown hair. Blake instantly recognizes her friend, a small smile appearing on her face:

"Ilia."

"The bathroom took a bit longer than expected." Ilia stands on the bedroll next to Blake's, probably her own, but does not relax yet. Instead she takes a small step forward, ready to intrude herself between Blake and the two blondes. "Say Blake, do these two hu-people bother you?"

"No!" Blake almost shouts out, as if Ilia was planning to do something terrible. "They're just here to talk."

"If you say so, Blake." The words do not match her actions, as she still looks rather angry at the two blondes.

Well, Yang can't exactly let that stand. Considering how she looks and holds herself, Yang wouldn't mind partnering with this girl. Can't exactly start on a bad foot then, right? "Sup, Ilia? The name's Yang, and bunny boy over here's Jaune." He lets out a small cry at the name, but Yang ignores it. "So, old friend of Blake here?"

"What would you know about that?"

"At the moment? Nothing." Ilia is defensive, so it's time for Yang to smash her shell open! "But I would like to know more. More about you, and Blake, even Jaune over here. That's how friendships are made, right?"

"Exactly." Hey, even Jaune is agreeing with Yang. That's a good thing, right? "My mom always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met. And well, now we're not strangers anymore. I learned that Blake likes the same book as I do, and maybe I learn similar things about you, Ilia."

"Ilia." Wow, even Blake joins in the conversation. That one does surprise Yang. "Don't forget that we're not just here to become huntresses."

Ilia sighs at the last statement, and finally relents. "Fine then, I suppose I wouldn't mind learning more about you two. I hope you won't disappoint."

Heh, that's another person to enter Yang's circle of friends. "Well, guess I just got to try hard not to, then!"

Ilia rolls her eyes at that. "Sure. Though do get your friend there to change his outfit. It's rather inappropriate."

Well, that's undeniable, considering how the bunny suit doesn't suite an adolescent male like him. Yang finds herself to agree, while Jaune complains about people not getting Pumpkin Pete. The conversation falls silent, as they don't really have anything else to talk about. Considering the time Yang realizes that it's time to call it quits. Tonight was absolutely the best part of the day, but it's time to sleep.

"Welp, this was fun! See you until initiation, you two!" Yang walks away from the group, with Jaune quickly following behind her. The bet between them gets settled, as Jaune puts his newly acquired money in his wallet. Triumphantly Jaune walks back to his bag, having made two to three friends as well as some lien. Yang does the same, ready to hit the sack. She's got to be prepared for initiation, and she got to be sharp for that. After all, tomorrow is going to be tons of fun, and Yang wouldn't miss it for the world!

* * *

 **On the topic of original characters: All OC first years at Atlas, as well as the teachers, are expies of other famous characters (Elvio Jayhouse is an expy of Elvis Presley, Colt Schwarzen is an expy of Schwarzenegger's Terminator, Robin Bates is an expy of the Robin from the batman series etc.); However, all OC higher-year student teams are popular fanmade teams like team JPDE (Second years) or team SLVR (Third years).**

 **I do not claim authorship for any of these higher-year student teams. If any of the original authors of these projects objects to the use of their characters please let me know, and those characters will be written out of the story.**

 **Now, then, to finish off with the questions in the reviews, or question in this case:**

 **-Bill Gopher:** _ **Will Blake stay in the White Fang or be one of the three (former) criminals?  
**_ **I think the question appears to be answered within the story.**


	3. Chapter 1-2

Initiation day.

It wouldn't be wrong for Ruby to say that this will be the day that she's waited for. Today she'll become part of a huntsmen team, partnered with three others to form a gang that will hopefully last a lifetime! She will be qualified at Atlas, start off her life as a huntress, the beginning of her own tale! All of that… after initiation.

There is very little information about the event itself, only rumors and whispers. The upperclassmen are very adamant at keeping all knowledge under wraps, leaving Ruby with only a few certain facts:

First, the new students are split up into groups of 16 or 20 people. She knows this because three other batches of first year students have been called, each new group a quarter of an hour after the other. No batch had to gather at the same place: The first group is supposed to meet in front of the academy gates, the second at the academy's training rooms on the fifteenth floor, and the third at the summit of Atlas North Mountain.

Thus far Ruby hasn't heard her own name, so silently she waits to be called while wriggling in her chair from excitement. Oh, this is going to be so awesome! No more words, no more talk, no more social interaction! It's just her, Crescent Rose, and the fighting skills of whomever joins her! Today is going to be to go miles better today than yesterday!

The sudden noise of static from the speakers alerts Ruby to the next announcement:

 _The following freshmen students need to report at the Academy's air docks within 15 minutes: Tidus Andronicus; Robin Bates; Ace Byre; Gaia Greene;_

Hey, that's Robin! It's the first name she recognizes, which is not that surprising. Of the new student body of about 120 students, there are only 7 familiar names other than herself. Those she can call her friends, which are Robin, Penny and the half-siblings Otto and Ciel. And on the opposite side of the spectrum there are those who she does not get along with: Elvio, Jacin and Weiss.

 _Elvio Jayhouse; Romy Joulie; Marlin Kingston; Cordelia Leir;_

And there are some more names, including one of the bullies. Poor Robin, Ruby really hopes that he doesn't have to become partners with Elvio.

 _Jacin Michaelis; Otto Moore; Penny Polendina; Ruby Rose;_

Hey, that's her name! And also Penny's and Otto's! That means that almost all the people Ruby is friends with are in the same group as her! That's fantastic!

With a happy heart Ruby sprints off towards the air docks, not hearing the last few names.

The trip to the docks is a lot less confusing than her trip yesterday. Getting lost is a lot harder if you have a map of the academy. Ruby really needs to thank Weiss for helping her out, even if she has great disdain for the red huntress.

This time Ruby knows exactly how she needs to proceed. Go left here, cross the hallways, exit the building, keep walking until she reaches a barbershop, keep it up and the docks will be almost in sight! Ruby runs towards her destination but takes a small breather upon finding a familiar sight.

On the other side of the street is a girl walking in the same general direction as Ruby herself. That orange mop of curly hair gets recognized by Ruby from anywhere:

"Penny!" Ruby runs over to her friend, who appears to look somewhat shocked and withdrawn. With a burst of her semblance she stands in front of Penny, who makes a somewhat forced smile.

"Salutations!… friend Ruby." If the first word was spoken triumphantly, the others were spoken in hushed tones, the second word coming barely out as a whimper.

Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Ruby presses on this, asking her friend about the situation: "Penny? Is there something wrong?"

"I have been made aware of the… ordeals that you've suffered yesterday. Considering what I did, do I still have the right to call you friend?"

"Of course you do!" What is that for a silly question? Friends aren't broken apart that easily. If they were, they wouldn't be friends at all! "Sure, you screwed up. But that's what people do all the time, right?"

"Well…" Penny seems a bit bothered by Ruby's response. "I…"

"What? Do you want to say that you're perfect, Penny?"

"No, I… never mind. Please, continue." It doesn't look like Penny wants to talk about it right now. Ruby stops questioning and continues with her speech:

"You didn't try to bring me into trouble, it just… sort of happened, okay? And besides, that's what friends are for, right? To help each other when they make mistakes."

"But I was not there for you when you got into trouble."

Point taken. Uhm, how's Ruby going to transform the message back to its more positive tone before this conversation and potential friendship is ruined?

"…"

"…"

"Well…" This might work! "You can be there for me now? I mean, we both need to go to the docks, and you did say you wanted to hang out, right?"

'I… I see. That data is indeed correct. Thank you, friend Ruby!" Penny gives her friend a hug, which is surprisingly heavy for someone so lithe. Ruby returns the favor, and after a good hug-out the two of them are ready to continue together!

"Now, wanna go to the docks? I don't want to be late again!"

"Affirmative!" The duo increases their pace, running towards their start of initiation.

Eventually they reach the docks, where half a dozen airships are lined up. Ruby and Penny reached the docks in time… apparently. There's no indication of other students, so Ruby wonders where they're supposed to go. Which one of these airships is theirs?

"Friend Ruby, I believe that is the ship we're looking for." Penny points to the second airship from the right, a bullhead customized for military operations. Hanging next to the entrance is a simple wooden sign, with words large enough to be read from great distance: 'Freshman initiation starts inside'.

The duo walks over to the ship, where a guy in an Atlas uniform stops them. Considering it's a student uniform he's wearing this man is probably an upperclassman who volunteered to help. He asks for Ruby and Penny's ID, who are happy to deliver them.

Upon seeing the identification of the two girls he takes out his scroll, crossing through names from a list on his screen. "Okay, with those two names… yep, that's the last of them." The man gives a small, somewhat cocky smile to the two freshmen. "Welcome to the initiation ship. Enjoy your flight and try not to die."

With his task fulfilled the upperclassman leaves, causing Ruby to let out a small gulp. Try not to die? How dangerous is this initiation going to be?

"Let us enter, friend Ruby!" Penny enters the bullhead first, and Ruby follows soon after. The inside is filled with the other students, all fourteen standing around the room. She gets a small wave from Otto and Robin, to whom she waves back. Even though this group has a few people she doesn't get along with in it, she could've been in worse.

The doors close, as the sixteen people inside the ship prepare for liftoff. It's a bit rougher compared to that of a bullhead, but that's just the difference between military and civilian aircraft. There are a few small tubular rooms to the sides, as well as a few simple tables strewn in the middle of the aircraft. The voice of General Ironwood sounds over the speakers, explaining how their initiation will go.

" _Students of group D, you've all been grouped together for this assignment. This is the first part of your initiation. You can see 8 small circular rooms within this ship, four on each side of the inner hall."_

Ruby looks around her, indeed finding eight of them. Each is only about 2 yards in diameter, just big enough to hold a person or two. Inside are two small seats, as well as safety belts. Ruby doesn't have a clue what they're for, but Ironwood is happy to explain:

" _Each of these rooms holds space for two people. For the first test of the initiation you will split yourself over the eight rooms, scanning your ID card on the card reader in front of the room you'll enter. And remember this well, the person you share the room with will be your partner for the rest of your stay at Atlas."_

With that the general's message is over, as Ruby is still somewhat in shock over this news. Everyone gets to pick their own partners? Okay, this is kind of bad. Scratch that, this is a catastrophe! Suddenly stepping up to people and asking them if they want to partner up is not her strong point.

Wait, there's still a few people she knows! This group has Robin, Otto, Penny, and… is that Ciel standing close to Penny? Yeah, she can team up with one of those four! A few seconds is spent thinking who Ruby should partner up with. Robin and Penny are the preferable choices, with the siblings as secondary options. So, eskrima-staff or flying swords-jetpack? Ruby doesn't need to think long, as the choice is made for her:

 _Pair one: Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil_

A robotic voice sounds over the intercom, and Ruby can just see the duo entering one of the rooms together. Okay, this is unexpectedly fast. Those two being this fast at making duos was not within Ruby's expectations, and literally halves her good possibilities. If things go wrong she must team up with bullies like Elvio!

 _Pair two: Elvio Jayhouse and Jacin Michaelis_

Okay, maybe it won't end that badly. The bullies seem to be content with having each other as a partner, meaning that two of the worst options are out for Ruby. However, with Penny gone that leaves Robin as the best choice.

Ruby walks up to Robin, who's leaning against one of the bullhead's walls. Okay, how to go about this? Be straight and just ask? Beat around the bush a bit before asking the core question, trying to see what his opinions are?

How would Yang do it? Ruby tries to imagine she's her sister, trying to get a boy to partner up with her. It would be something along the lines of "Hey there hot stuff, wanna team up with this bangin' hot chick?"

Yeah, Ruby desperately needs someone else to imitate, because that isn't going to work for her, like, ever. Okay, just think of Dad's old stories about how he partnered up with Qrow. Let's see… he walked up to him, looked him in the eyes, and asked if they could be partners.

Yeah, that should work! Just walk up, look him in the eyes, and ask to be his partner. This should be easy. Walk up, look in his eyes, ask to be his partner. Walk up, look in his eye, ask to be his partner. Walk up, look in his eyes, ask to be his partner.

"Hey Robin!" Okay, that's the walk up part done. This is doable… this is doable! And he's making eye contact, so that's part two done! Now just to ask the question:

"Do you want to partner u-"

"I discommend finishing that sentence." Both Ruby's sentence and her eye contact get rudely interrupted. Now standing in-between Ruby and Robin is a girl slightly shorter than Ruby herself, with long black hair and dressed in black-and-yellow leather. None of that really matters to Ruby, as she can only stare at the claws protruding from her fingers. More precisely, the claws that she presses against Ruby's neck and would cut into her were it not for aura!

Ruby has so many questions, but there's only she really cares about right now: "Ehm, could you take those claws away, please?"

The faunus girl doesn't seem very intent on doing so, keeping her claw firmly next to Ruby. "Only if I have your guarantee that you do not come between Robin and I."

"Laura!" Robin speaks up, stepping next to Laura and lowering her hand away from Ruby. He scolds her on using her weapons to threaten fellow students. It seems to work somewhat, as Laura retracts her natural weapons and just gives Ruby the evil eye.

"Hey Ruby…" Robin doesn't seem to be enjoying the recent scuffle between the girls, his words sounding a bit strained. "I see you've met Laura."

And how! "Does she always do this, y'know, *snikt* with her claws on everyone she meets?" That was an experience that Ruby would rather not repeat, thank you very much!

"it's a long story." Robin proceeds to give a bit more info about his own life back and Mantle: He and Laura go way back, ever since Robin rescued her from a bunch of kidnappers. As an orphan with an unusual semblance that manifested early, there were some… unsavory individuals interested in finding ways to use Laura's semblance for themselves. Because of such men she doesn't trust anyone except for the persons she spent time with back in mantle.

"My partner is Robin Bates." Laura's tone is of perfect confidence, knowing that her words are absolute truth. Even if they aren't, Laura is certain that she can bend reality enough to make it so. "I can assure you that we made sure of that long ago."

"Yeah…" Even Robin agrees with those words, as he gently must let Ruby down: "Sorry Ruby, but I promised Laura to pair up with her if possible. It would be nice if we end up in the same team, but I can't partner up with you."

"Oh, no, it's fine…" It's most definitely not fine! Who is Ruby supposed to partner up with now?

Robin walks away to the nearest unoccupied chamber, where both he and Laura swipe their cards on the reader. The speaker booms, indicating the third created pair:

 _Pair three: Robin Bates and Laura Wolff_

And that was Robin, another great possibility squandered. Now what? Ruby doesn't want to end up with some other unknown kid at the bottom of the barrel, forced to be the last pairing by virtue of no one else wanting to team up with them. That would be the worst possible start of her time as a huntress!

Okay, who is still left? Robin, Penny and Ciel are already in pairs-wait, Otto! He's a nice person, and funny. A bit dogged, maybe, but he's a good person… even though he doesn't look to be the best in a fight. Perhaps she should pair up with him?

"Hey, are you listening to me?!" An angry, shouty voice addresses Ruby from behind. There's only one person Ruby knows that has that voice, and it's none other than the white princess.

Behind her is what is best described as a posse, several guys and girls who seem very intent on pairing up with the ice queen. All but one of them is going to be heavily disappointed, and Ruby might be forced into an unhappy relationship with one of the remains.

It still raises the question of why Weiss wants to talk. What, does she try to dump off some of her ardent followers onto Ruby?

"Ruby Rose. Partner up with me."

Wait… what?

Weiss Schnee, the angry girl who really didn't like Ruby's crash-into hello, called her a dunce and an idiot… wants to pair up with Ruby.

Did Ruby miss something or did the world go crazy?

Trying to come up with a reason for such a response, there's only one thing on Ruby's mind:

"Are you… bullying me?"

"Hey!" Eep! Those loud, angry shouts are not winning you any points, Weiss! You're rather scary, and kind of evil-looking right now. "How can you even say that, you dolt! Do you hav-"

 _Pair four: Ace Byre and Gaia Greene_

Weiss' voice gets drowned out by a new announcement, indicating that another pair has formed. There's only eight people left in the main section of the ship, two of which are Ruby and the angry ice queen. She doesn't seem deterred by the announcement to make Ruby her partner, though, as she continues with her speech:

"I know this situation is not ideal either. If I went to Beacon as I planned to, I would be paired up with Pyrrha Nikos right now. However, given that I'm an Atlas student, I'll have to do with what I can get."

Yeah, that doesn't sound like much incentive for Ruby to partner up. Who wants to be sloppy seconds to this Nikos girl? Warily the red reaper looks down her potential teammate, not sure what to make of her.

"Look here, I am dead serious about this: I want you to partner up with me! If I want to I can easily name five reasons or so for teaming up with you."

"Well, if that's true, then tell me." Ruby sits down at one of the tables, eagerly waiting for Weiss to put her money where her mouth is. Ruby's not planning to spend four years with a bully or as a secondary choice. "Give me these five reasons for why you want to partner up. You said you had them, so… can you tell them?"

"Hmph! Of course I can, you dunce!" Weiss doesn't seem to back away from the challenge, taking the seat opposite of Ruby and holds out a clenched fist in front of her, before raising her pointer finger. "First of all, I've done a bit of research on you. Ruby Rose, accepted into Atlas two years early for stopping an attempted kidnapping by the White Fang."

Weiss hands Ruby her scroll, with on it filmed data of a very familiar scene. Ruby knocking out several White Fang goons, as well as Ruby dueling it out with the female officer who led the assault.

Wait, this is the film captured by that white-haired official! "How did you obtain thi-Oh." Of course, white hair isn't that common among those under forty, even in a snowy place like Atlas. "He's family, right?"

"My nephew, to be precise. But yes, after learning that you claimed to stop a White Fang assault I did some research. It turns out that you were correct:"

"Hehehe…" Ruby awkwardly accepts the compliment, not used to being complimented.

"You are a dunce, socially handicapped and in my opinion still way too young to attend this academy, but… I have to admit that your combat skills are top-notch. Were you to be placed under a capable leader, I believe you could become an amazing huntress."

"Capable leader like me", Ruby can almost hear Weiss add those words to her sentence. Arrogant as those words are, Weiss is still the first student that has studied and complimented her fighting ability, which is a point in her favor. Okay, Weiss has made her first point clear. So, what are the remaining four reasons of Weiss Schnee?

"Which brings me to my second point," another finger raised in the air bringing the total to two. "you saved my nephew from being kidnapped. On my family's honor as a Schnee, I cannot let such debts go unpaid." Scoffs from some of the bystanders make the last sentence sound a bit dodgy, as if there is no honor left in the Schnees.

Ruby doesn't really get it. Sure, it's important to have a reputation, but what good is fighting for honor that isn't yours? "Is that really so important to you?"

"Yes." Weiss doesn't need more to shut Ruby's opinion, using it to further her own reasons: "And there's my third point: For some reason you have not a clue who I am. Whether this is sheer stupidity or bliss I do not know, but the fact remains that the Schnee name is something you've never heard of."

"Should I?"

Those two words seem to spark bad reactions from the crowd around the duo, several of the people looking flabbergasted that Ruby does not know who Weiss Schnee is. They explain just who she is: Heiress to the richest company on Remnant and songstress who has released several albums, someone who will likely become the most influential person on the planet in ten years.

It all really went over Ruby's head, as it all missed the most important part: "And how does that help with being a huntress?" The crowd simply stares at her, while Weiss gives a meager smile at those words, happy that someone looks past her name. "Oh, do you have some sort of cool semblance that lets you use your singing voice as a weapon? That would be awesome!"

"Ruby, you really are an idiot through and through." Weiss still speaks in mean words, but there's no sting in it. That 'idiot' was meant as a compliment, and it seems like Weiss' opinion of the red reaper only grows higher. She continues her speech, addressing point four:

"Then there's the fact that you're from Vale." The fourth finger goes up, leaving only the thumb still pressed against Weiss' hand. "Obviously you must know that Atlesian students at this academy are pressured to join the military after graduation. As heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, I have other duties than fighting for the good of the country. However, they usually pressure pairs into joining together. As you're not from this kingdom, you will not be asked to join, and this goes to some extent to your partner. Whomever pairs up with you won't have to feel pressured by the military propaganda."

To Ruby's surprise this caused a few of the remaining students to become interested in Ruby as well, realizing that a foreigner allows them to dodge the drafting. While Ruby does have a few more options available, Ruby doesn't really want to become partners with someone who just wants to use her. Wait, is this how Weiss felt when she was approached by all these other people? Wow, suddenly Ruby finds herself a lot more relatable with this heiress.

"As for the last one, well, uhm…" Looks like someone only thought out steps one to four. Time to help the heiress out a bit:

"How about I give you the last one:" With a dash of her semblance Ruby sits herself down next to Weiss, "When we're done with initiation and we're part of a team you'll go: 'Wow, that Ruby girl is so cool and awesome, I wanna be totes besties with her!'"

Weiss rolls her eyes at the idea, instead lightly tossing her scroll at Ruby. Ruby catches it with ease, not understanding why Weiss did that.

"There. You're left-handed, as am I." Ruby looks at the caught scroll in her left hand, which is grabbed back by Weiss' own left. "Fifth reason, lefties should stick together. Now do you want to partner up or not?"

"Huh." There's only a few people who notice Ruby's left-handedness. She must admit, that's well observed from Weiss.

As for partnering up with Weiss… The five reasons given were all somewhat selfish: Because Ruby is strong, because Ruby is from Patch, because Ruby doesn't know who Weiss is… However, there's also a deep undertone that makes Ruby wants to be Weiss' friend: To Weiss, Ruby is a blank slate. Ruby, the adorable girl from the bumpkin isle of Patch, doesn't know anything about Weiss. They can build a true friendship, unbiased by prejudice or hate, something very rare for a Schnee.

With no reason to really decline Ruby accepts Weiss' partnership. She grabs her own scroll and together with Weiss walks up to one of the remaining four rooms. The duo scans their scroll at the same time, causing the speaker to announce their names:

 _Pair five: Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee._

The pair steps in the room and the door behind them closes. They each take a seat, waiting for the rest of the pairs to form.

"Ruby?" The called huntress looks at her partner, who has drawn her weapon and holds it out in front of her. "This is Myrtenaster, a multi action dust rapier."

And what a beauty it is! Oh, how well-polished the stinger is, sharp enough to split hairs and pierce through steel. And look at how the guard seems to be light-weight yet still protecting the hand from all frontal directions!

The red huntress marvels at her partner's weapon, almost drooling in excitement. If she weren't locked in a small room on board of a ship Ruby would be jumping all around the weapon, observing it from every angle. To obtain similar results she needs to pick up Myrtenaster… which she is rather hesitant to do. With pleading eyes se looks at Weiss, wondering if it's okay to touch her beloved.

"What?" Weiss doesn't understand her partner's hesitation, but still works to eliminate it: "Didn't you want to know what for weapon I wield?"

"Yeah…?"

"So I'm giving you the chance to look at my weapon. Now are you going to pick up my rapier so you can fully gawk at it or do I have to complete initiation with my fists?"

"Hehehe, sorry…" Although the image of a girl with Weiss' petite frame smashing through hordes of beowolves using nothing more than her fists is a hilarious thought of its own. Letting out a small chuckle Ruby carefully picks up Myrtenaster, giving it a very close and intimate inspection:

No way, did she turn the useless ricasso into a dust exhaust port? Such an ingenious method of applying dust onto a weapon! And look at the dust cylinder, how effortlessly it turns yet still has enough grip to prevent overshooting the right vial of dust! That's not even talking about how flexible the reload system is, allowing for quick ejection of the used shells.

"Say, ever tried some holder for the dust vials? That way you can reload an entire clip instead of having to put in the vials one by one."

"I've tried incorporating such an idea before. It made reloading a lot easier but carrying the reserve ammunition is practically impossible with these clothes." To translate her words into deeds, Weiss put her fists inside of her pockets, only barely managing to stuff them inside. Ruby recognizes the problem as well:

"Girl pockets, right?" Those things never seem to be large enough to hold anything! Ruby had to sew buttons on her own skirt pockets to prevent her scroll from dropping mid-battle.

"Fashion and practicality don't often go hand in hand, yes." The two girls share a small laugh at their problem, before their talk being overwhelmed by the sound of the sixth pairing:

 _Pair six: Romy Joulie and Cordelia Leir._

The last four students appear to have made their choice as well, as within ten seconds the remaining pairings were announced over the speaker:

 _Pair seven: Marlin Kingston and Dylan Zimmers._

 _Pair eight: Otto Moore and Tidus Andronicus._

 _All pairings formed, initiating second phase of initiation. Please fasten your seatbelts and stay alert._

"Fasten your seatbelts? What do they mean with that?" Weiss may be questioning the idea, but still does as told. Ruby sees no reason to disobey either and fastens her own as well.

The sound of clamps loosening fills the air, and the room starts to feel a bit shaky. Neither of the two huntresses has a good feeling about all this, worried with Atlas' idea of initiation.

"Are-are they going to drop this room?" A panic-filled question that doesn't need to be answered, the sudden rush of gravity is more than enough to confirm the suspicions. With fear in their eyes they look at each other, both letting out shrieks of terror and surprise.

This is not how initiation should have started!

* * *

Yang opens her locker, finding her trusty gauntlets inside. With a flick of the wrist she equips her weapons, ready to face any combat heading her way.

Initiation. In other words, time to show off how awesome she is. Yep, this is going to be fun. No need to be a caring older sister, just time to go all out and blow everything away!

Her thoughts are interrupted by the loud closing of a locker door to her right, followed by a weird silence that wasn't that before. It's enough to take a gander at the abnormality.

"Nora, I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." Hey, it's the long-haired pretty boy and his red-headed bruiser girlfriend. They're in some sort of conversation about… sloths? Yang hasn't exactly been tuned in on their talk.

"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect that we're working together!"

Working together? Wait a second, do these people have some sort of plan to partner up? That sounds like a juicy tidbit of information! Considering that Yang has nothing better to do, perhaps she should take a few notes from them.

Confidently she walks over to the pair, greeting them as if they were family. "So, you two got a plan for teaming up?"

"Ren, watch out! We've got ourselves an eavesdropper."

"Heh, guilty as charged." Yang doesn't deny it at all. "So, name's Yang Xiao-Long. What are you two up to?"

"My name is Lie Ren, and this is Nora Valkyrie. As you observed, we made plans to partner up."

"But don't you dare tell anyone! Those wo do might find themselves haunted by my hammer!"

Right, right, Yang understands the situation. Besides, she's not the type to intervene into such a sappy love story. "Sounds like you two got it all figured out, huh?"

"Yep!" Nora puffs her chest in pride, proudly accepting the somewhat sarcastic compliment from Yang. "Our technique is flawless like a diamond, precious as a diamond, and unique as a diamond. No, wait, not the last one, diamond's aren't that unique here in the big city. But yeah, no one will ever discover the magnificent design of our ultimate plans!"

Yang rolls her eyes at Nora's boasting, because it isn't that difficult from her understanding: "What, you're using sloth noises to find each other?" No wait, that can't be it, right? What noises do sloths even make?

As Yang correctly answers the problem Nora can only stare in horror at this detective extraordinaire. "How did you know?"

"Because you just told her." And it appears once more that Ren is the more sensible of the two. Mystery solved, apparently. With this out of the way Yang is ready to let these two lovebirds try and make their cute little partnership.

Though… that does raise a small question:

"But what if other students make sloth noises?" Ooh, there's a devilish plan in plain sight. Yang sees a chance for small fun and chaos, so she takes it with both hands: "What if I make sloth noises?"

Nora looks with abject horror at this possible intruder to her perfect plan. How could someone else be making sloth noises in her stead? "You… you wouldn't!"

"Who knows?" Okay, this is a tad mean, but messing with Nora turns out to be a lot of fun. "Maybe we'll get to pair up, Nora… or perhaps I get to spend four years with pretty boy as partners."

Shock on Nora's face quickly makes place for anger, as she reaches for the weapon on her back. "Let's see you partner up with someone after your legs are bro-"

"Nora." Ren interrupts, his voice still calm and serene. Nora immediately shuts up, and Yang too waits for the coming words of wisdom. "You and Yang have different voices."

"Oh… right!" Nora completely forgot that basic fact. "So Yang, make tons of sloth noises! Then me and Ren can make sure to avoid you!"

Ouch, the way Nora brings that sounds harsh, even though Yang knows what these two really mean. It's somewhat deserved, considering the fun she had messing with these two lovebirds.

Yang keeps the promise, though she has no idea what kind of noise she's supposed to make. Like seriously, what sound does a sloth make? Perhaps she should just make some noise at all, that will be enough.

Ren and Nora wave their goodbyes to Yang and leave for other locations. Yang, on the other hand, sees some new fun to be had:

"Why hello there, hot stuff. Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue and ladies love it." There is Jaune, trying his tried-and-(not so)true method of impressing girls. This time his target is some red-headed Amazonian that seems somewhat familiar. Maybe she appeared on television once? Yang can't really remember.

And besides, the girl isn't the real attraction when you can have fun watching Jaune. Really, he's still at it? Yang cannot help but let out a small laugh. Scratch the title of huntsman, Jaune looks a lot more interested in becoming the womanizer of Beacon. Well, aspiring womanizer. In Yang's opinion he's not very good at it.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune. My name is Pyrrha Nikos." Surprisingly, the redhead does not appear annoyed with the blonde's antics. Ooh, could it be that ladykiller finally has a chance? This is an opportunity that must not be missed!

Yang seats herself on a nearby bench, quietly listening in on the conversation: "So, I've been hearing rumors about teams, and I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

Huh, doesn't seem like Pyrrha likes Jaune that much yet, though for some crazy reason it doesn't appear to be because of his womanizing ways. This might actually turn out in a fun way Yang doesn't expect!

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so you would need two more."

"Well then, that means that there's not one, but three spots left on the winning team. Who knows, maybe I can, y'know, pull some strings, reserve a spot for you?"

"I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may, but thanks for the offer."

"Okay…" yep, Jaune doesn't take it all too well. He's probably annoyed that even this, like, hundredth attempt to impress people failed. "But do remember that there's always a place on team Jaune."

Oh, Jaune tries to play this off casually, all cool and suave. Casually leaning against his own locker, he tries to play off his badass persona. It might've worked if the lockers were bolted to the ground. However, these are rocket launchers that can fly off into the sky, and Jaune finds this out the hard way.

With a loud crash Jaune topples over his row of lockers, making a trio of them fall on the ground. The owners of lockers 636 to 638 will have to start initiation with scrambled lockers. Pyrrha can only mutter out an apologetic "Sorry" as Jaune groans in pain.

"Jaune? Are you okay?"

"Oww… yeah, peachy." Yeah, that fall did not look very peachy to Yang. If that boy didn't have aura he should have some severe back pain right now. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"That is good to hear." Pyrrha looks away from the blonde, somewhat done with this meeting. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go now. It was great meeting you, Jaune."

"O yeah, anytime…" Jaune watches the redhead walk away, left to wonder whether he was hurt more physically or mentally.

As amusing as it is to watch Jaune's fiasco, it must come to an end. Right now tall, blonde and dumped might need a hand getting up. Yang walks over to the fallen womanizer, helping him get up from the ground. "Having some trouble there, ladykiller?"

"Depends. Are you on team Jaune?"

Ha, not by a long shot. Yang lets out their family's rolling "Nope", telling Jaune that his team still consists of just himself.

"Well, at least I'm trying!" And Yang is very supportive of his attempts. If Jaune managed to get a team with other people, then Yang doesn't have to worry about ending up with him! "What are you doing for team Yang?"

"I promised to make sloth noises." Jaune doesn't really know what of make of that, just staring dumbly at Yang. "Yeah, kind of a long story."

The talk is interrupted by the speakers, who announce the next step in Yang's intro at Beacon:

" _Would all first-year students report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation. Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation."_

Yang and Jaune look at each other and realize it is time to go. Together they walk towards their destination. Ready or not, it's time for initiation.

At the cliffs the large crowd of students are separated into seven groups of sixteen, each participating in their initiation several minutes after one another. Yang didn't really listen all too well to the list after she was the second person to be named for the first batch of students, causing her to move towards the edge of the cliffs immediately.

There they met professor Ozpin and Goodwitch, the latter of which ordered all students to stand on one of the platforms lined up on the ground. Yang took the third platform from the right. This places her between some orange-headed armored beefcake to her left, and Ilia to her right.

Yang's group at the Emerald Forest is, quite honestly, surprisingly strong. There's Ren, Nora, Blake, Ilia, Pyrrha, as well as several other members who Yang wouldn't mind pairing up with. The only two that are definite no-goes for her are Jaune on her far right, and that guy with the pudgy face on the far left.

Ozpin starts with his speech, sometimes followed by some lines from miss Goodwitch. The start of the talk is boring, about how they will be evaluated as warriors or so, and the very expected part that they will all be given teammates today, and how these teammates will be very important in the upcoming years. Nothing unexpected thus far.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Well that is unexpected! Partners are essentially randomized? Oh man, this is going to throw so many wrenches into the plans of everyone who was trying to influence the pairings. Almost everyone she can see is looking rather afraid. Even the mellow Ilia and Blake are staring wide-eyed at the professor. The only persons looking calm are those lovebirds, who either have made some very good pair-up plans or are very good at hiding their emotions.

As for Yang, the randomization isn't that bad of a deal. Of the fifteen possible partners, there are at least five good partners, eight unknown possibilities, and two bad choices. It's a gamble that Yang's willing to make.

Ozpin rambles on about where they need to go to grab some relic from some ruins in the north, that they'll be evaluated by teachers during the assignment, and how they need to defeat everything in their path or they might die. Honestly, what's the worst this forest has to offer? Yang can defeat an Ursa with one arm tied behind her back, and even Ruby can slaughter beowolves by the dozen. It's not like it's a forest teeming with elder grimm, right?

It's when Yang looks to the left to see what Ozpin meant by flight, as the first two students are already experiencing it. They're being launched off the cliff? Okay, that's way more awesome than just simply jumping off!

One by one the students get launched into the air, so it's time for Yang to prepare as well, pulling out the most important item for this initiation: a cool set of aviator shades. With those protecting her eyes Yang is flight-ready!

The rhythmical twungs of the launchers going off gives Yang an easy countdown to follow.

*twung*, There goes Nora…

*twung*, and there goes Ren…

*twung*, there goes the beefcake, which means…

*twung*, liftoff!

Yang flies through the air, free as a bird. Aw yeah, this is what Yang signed up for! Blasting through the sky at speeds that can barely be comprehended, just wind in the face as she's just flying!

The other students seem to either enjoy it a lot less or are just focused on the mission. Most of them simply prepare themselves for landing, already dropping beneath the tree lines to seek the safety of ground. Pfff, cowards. You don't get chances like this often, so why not keep on going?

With blasts from Ember Celica Yang propels herself forward, blasting upwards and forward to keep her flight going. With the trusty recoil of her weapon she stays afloat, flying through the sky for what must have been almost thirty seconds. With all of gravity trying to stop her joy, Yang has one simple answer for that:

Shotgun boost, and another boost! Man, whomever invented the recoil-boosted shotguns should deserve some grand prize. Yang can never forget how awesome these are!

A few glances around her are enough to say that she's probably gotten the long-distance record of the year. Nobody else is still in sight, either too far behind her or most likely already down under the tree line. Heh, if this keeps going maybe Yang can simply fly to the ruins. Who knows, it would make initiation a lot easier.

*Click click*

O bummer. That sounds a lot like empty magazines. With the flight being in its end stage, it's time to work on the landing strategies, as Ozpin has called it.

The brush of a tree temporarily blocks Yang's view, but the path forward is clear. Hopping between trees she slowly descends towards the ground. With a final five-yard drop she lands on the ground, drop rolling to ensure that her landing is unharmful and not taking up any of her aura.

The lack of pain means that Yang has obtained a perfect landing, she completely nailed it! Her first order of business is to replace the ammunition in her gauntlets, ensuring that her punches pack some extra punch. Now, as for what to do next…

"Hello, anyone there?" Ozpin's order is a simple three-step plan. First, find a partner; Second, go to the forest temple and retrieve a relic; Third, return to the cliff. Do that, and initiation is complete. It doesn't really sound too hard, and with no other problems to worry about she can freely go ahead and search for a partner. As long as she doesn't end up with Jaune or that pudgy-faced guy, she's going to be okay.

Now, where is everyone? Sure, Yang flew for long enough with her recoil-boosted arm gauntlets that she might have set a new distance record, but her walking pace is slow. If she keeps going someone should catch up with her, right? There's not much anyone can do but go deeper into the Emerald Forest, so there should be someone coming. Perhaps she should go to the temple? Everyone needs to go there, and maybe someone else had the same idea to arrive there without a partner.

"Hello? Nobody out there who needs a partner? I'm getting bored here!"

…

No response. Yeah, Yang is completely alone. So, her grand start as a huntress begins with silence. Admittingly, that was down at the bottom of her expectations for her new life. A storm or raging fire was the expectation, but to begin with such a gentle breeze? There's not even a grimm to take her frustration out on!

"Really, no one? There's a hot chick looking for a partner over here, so you just need to lock eyes to spend the next four years together!"

*Crack*

Sound! Which means that there is at least one person nearby! With a dash she goes off in the direction of the sound, hoping to see what her new partner is like. Shoving away the bush in front of her she looks at the clearing

"So, how's my new partner doing?"

She's answered by an ear-shattering roar from an Ursa, his blood-red eyes glaring at the huntress-in-training.

"Yeah, sorry, but I don't think Ozpin would allow me to pair up with grimm." Behind the Ursa another one appears, also not too happy with the human's arrival. "Besides, it looks like you're already partnered up."

The ursai don't seem to enjoy Yang's casual tone, shifting to attack the huntress-in-training. Well, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they get!

The first ursa sweeps its claw at Yang, who easily ducks underneath it. With the belly right open Yang delivers a fierce jab with her left arm, followed up by right uppercut and a middle kick to push the beast away.

With one creature flying away the other charges at the huntress, its heavy body strong enough to trash through boulders. Yeah, that's a hit that Yang doesn't want to take, so she dodges with a roll before firing a few blasts from her shotguns.

The burning bursts don't seem to do much more than irritate the bear grimm. With mighty strikes it tries to take down Yang, but it's just too slow. Easily she dodges between the strikes, getting a few jabs in at the monster.

"Man, good thing I didn't find you before your buddy did. You would've made a terrible partner!"

These include mental jabs, of course. The ursa recognizes the taunt, its anger aggravating enough to strike at Yang with reckless abandon. If that lands on Yang the least of her worries will be her broken aura.

If it lands, that is. Try as the beast might, it's still far too slow to be of any danger to a huntress, even one in training. That's why Yang makes sure to keep fighting the ursa separately. These grimm are nothing much if fought one-on-one, and Yang is happy to keep it that way.

The ursa that went flying is up and running again, so Yang needs to keep this one occupied. She ducks under its assault and slides to its behind, where a well-placed straight is enough to send the beast flying through a tree. Just in time, as the other is very intend on making Yang-flavored mish-mash.

A strike from the left arm gets dodged, and at the follow-up strike of the beast's right Yang sees her chance: Stepping into striking range she firmly catches the arm. In a single move she throws the beast over her own body, throwing it on its back. Yang pins the arm of the ursa, and begins doing the thing she does best:

Punching.

Yang strikes the arm over and over, keeping on punching until she almost runs out of ammo. With a loud scream she rears back for one final, powerful punch, connecting with the upper arm of the ursa.

With that last hit the beast's arm makes a sickening crush, and whatever gives the grimm's body stability is shattered. The limb uselessly hangs at the grimm's side, something which Yang will happily take advantage of. Sidestepping to the right she renews her assault, and this time the ursa can't use its arm to deflect the strike.

Left punch, right punch, left punch, right punch. With these continuous motions Yang keeps attacking the ursa's weak side, its flesh ripping and burning apart by overwhelming force. With a mighty uppercut Yang knocks the beast up into the air, before sending it flying with her right fist.

The ursa crashes through a tree or three, its lifeless body dissolving into nothingness. Yang waltzes up to the leftover remains, a cocky grin plastered on her face. "Aww, was that that the best you could do?"

The remaining ursa roars, charging at the killer of its kin. Yang turns around and readies herself for more combat. "Yang versus team Ursai. Looks like the bell's sounding for round two!"

*Thunk*

The sound of metal hitting flesh emanates from the Ursa, which immediately stops moving. The monster keels over, revealing what killed it:

Impaled in the back of its head is what appears to be a chakram… probably. With a gun attached to it. Ruby would be able to give a more apt description, but she's on a different continent. Until Yang is corrected she's going to call it a chakram-gun. Gunram? Yeah, gunram it is.

From the bushes Yang can see someone walking out, clearly the owner of the weapon considering she wields another gunram in her left hand. Yang recognizes her as one of the girls she checked out yesterday: The wild-type girl with the really short hair!

Lilac eyes stare into icy blue. A second or two pass before Yang reopens the conversation. "I could've taken him."

The tan-skinned girl merely snorts at that. "Sure you did." There's something in her smile that unnerves Yang a bit, the feeling of being watched by someone who knows way more about the situation then should normally be possible. Still, seeing another human is more appreciable then whatever dark feelings hide behind that face, especially with what her next words are: "Still looking for a partner?"

"It's like you read my mind." With a grin Yang walks forward, offering her hand for a friendly shake. "Name's Yang. Nice to meet you, partner!"

"Hmm…" The other girl looks Yang over, before returning the handshake. "Yeah, likewise."

With that the first part of the mission is complete, leaving Yang with only one more question: "So… what's your name? Don't tell me you plan on keeping it secret?"

A small smirk appears on the tan-skinned girl, and she has only one word to give for her partner:

"Vernal."

* * *

 **Sorry for the late upload. Considering the lack of perceived interest in chapter two I wasn't sure whether it was popular enough to continue. Still, guess the only way to find out is to write more.**

 **The Beacon team is fully known now. Joining Blake and Yang are Ilia and Vernal. B, Y, I, V... what kind of team name does that make?**


	4. Chapter 1-3

Ow… Ruby did not expect to be dropped onto the ground. With an aching body she steps out of the pod, her partner in equally dire straits.

They've been dropped in the wilderness, with no sign of civilization in sight. There's just leafless trees, hills and mountains in the distances, and snow. Lots of snow. The only thing reminding them that they're not in the middle of nowhere is the ship in the sky from which they have been dropped.

So… what now? The duo has only been told the first part of initiation, which led to their partnership. This is the second part of initiation, but there has been no explanation so far. What do they have to d-

" _Students!"_

The voice of general Ironwood sounds through the dropped pod, giving Ruby and Weiss some much-needed knowledge.

" _Welcome to the second part of initiation. If you look around you, you might recognize that you've been dropped into the glimmering forest. This is a vast expanse filled with trees and grimm. You're considered to have finished initiation if you manage to return to Atlas Academy."_

In other words, initiation is about surviving in the wild. That is so awesome! Just her, Weiss and tons of grimm, with no other worries. This is gonna be so cool!

" _If you look up you should be able to see the bullhead with which you arrived here. In quite some hours it will land, though it will be a far distance away from your current location. Furthermore, the Atlesian army will be chasing after you. I highly discommend getting caught by them. I wish all of you the best of luck."_

So, it's not just about getting back to Atlas, everyone's in for a chase. That's even better!

Weiss looks at her hyperactive teammate, wondering what she's so excited about. She heard some stories from her sister about her initiation, and while still difficult it wasn't on this level. Something feels off about this initiation, but Weiss can't figure out what. In such a situation, what could Ruby have to be excited about?

"All right, partner; prepare to be amazed." Well, maybe Ruby is ready to answer already. "Watch my semblance, and you will go 'wow, this Ruby girl is amazing! I am so glad I partnered up with her!'"

Ruby disappears from sight, leaving only some rose petals in her wake. What the-did she just, how? What happened?

Weiss is brought out of her thoughts by a tap on her shoulder. Looking behind her she finds a grinning Ruby, who just disappears again. No, wait, if Weiss focuses, she can see a red blur moving between places.

The red blur circles around the heiress once more, probably planning to do the same trick twice. This time Weiss is prepared for it, and with a quick motion she manages to barely grab Ruby's hand.

Ruby doesn't care about being caught, instead asking what her partner thinks about this semblance.

"Speed… I'll admit that that's useful in a chase, but did you forget we both need to reach the ship?" Perhaps if Weiss had already mastered time dilation she might be able to join this race, but that glyph is not reliable enough to be used for now.

It's not a problem for Ruby, who has already a solution: "Well, I can carry you."

What?

"I mean, I don't think you weigh much, considering you're, well, kinda short and lithe. I mean, I know I can't say much with my own height, but I believe you're one of the few students that are shorter than me."

…

…

"Uhm, did I hit a sore point there?"

Weiss sighs, remembering some old jeers from the past once more. "Don't worry, I've long since accepted that I'll stay short for all my life. But as punishment for bringing that up, you're going to carry me all the way to the ship."

Weiss couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the last line, her calm happiness infecting Ruby as well. Ruby promises to carry her partner gently like a princess, which gets a small "hey" from Weiss before she chuckles a bit more. The red reaper picks up her partner and dashes off, towards the fleeing airship.

Grimm are met along the way, but at their traveling speed the monsters don't have time to react, making it a case of live and let live. Yep, this is the best idea Ruby ever had. Who else could come up and perform such a genius idea?

Hang on, up in the air someone has a very similar idea to Ruby, using their abilities to fly fast and ignore the grimm. While Weiss doesn't recognize their travelling companions, Ruby certainly does:

"Penny!" Yeah, it's her friend out there, who recognizes the red reaper down below. Penny flies lower, letting Ruby see that this time it's Ciel who's carried by the orange-haired girl.

Ruby would like to chat, but she sees herself losing speed compared to Penny. Yeah, even though Weiss is rather light Ruby doesn't have the stamina to keep carrying her forever. Ruby is getting tired and in need for a break.

"Sorry Weiss, but I need some rest." Weiss is luckily understanding enough of the situation and points to a pair of trees as a place to rest. Ruby gladly accepts the offer and pushes for a last sprint to the new goal.

Ruby sets Weiss down before sitting on the snow, leaning back against one of the trees in exhaustion.

What Ruby didn't expect was that the number of people resting is twice as high as expected. Penny and Ciel stopped their chase as well, with the former crouching next to Ruby and the latter casually leaning against a tree.

"Are you okay, friend Ruby?" Ruby nods her head at Penny's worries, happy that a friend shows such concern.

"Yeah… just needed a little break…" With a few more deep breaths Ruby manages to get her breathing back, steadying herself for another sprint. She's raring to go for another few minutes, but Weiss has something else in mind:

"Ruby Rose, mind introducing me to your friends?" Ah, right, Weiss has no idea who these people are. Ruby stands up and wraps her arm around Penny.

"Weiss, meet Penny Polendina! She's one of the first friends I made when I first arrived in the city. She might also be kinda sorta the reason I fell through the window on top of you during the speech."

"Salutations, Weiss. My apologies for throwing friend Ruby into you."

"Apologies accepted. While your actions were foolish, the eventual outcome was positive. I see no reason to hold further hostilities against you."

Good, it seems like Penny and Weiss don't start off on any negative footing. With one introduced, it's time to show the other member of the pair:

"And this is Ciel Soleil. I've met her somewhat later. But don't worry, she's a friend too."

"?" This piques the interest of Weiss, who recognizes the name. "Soleil… are you perhaps acquainted with a Cinque du Soleil?"

"Cinque du Soleil: My father, yes."

"In that case, you must be his only child and heiress. I've heard good things about you from your father, and it's a pity we haven't met earlier."

Ciel looks like she wants to object but decides to drop it. Ruby understand it's about Otto, but if Ciel doesn't want to talk about then she will not address it either.

"I suppose you are good friends with miss Polendina here. You managed to pair up almost immediately after the announcement was given."

"Yeah, how did you partner up so quickly?" They were the first team to enter a capsule together, even before Ruby could ask Penny for a partnership. What's their secret?

"Well, friend Ruby, there were prearranged…"

"…notions." The duo fil each other's words naturally. It's still not the pairing that Ruby expected, but at least they seem to get along.

Now that Weiss knows who Ruby's friends are, it's time to do the same in reverse: "Penny, Ciel, meet my partner, W-"

"Weiss Schnee. Former songstress, heir to the Schnee Dust Company, currently another freshman at Atlas academy." Ciel doesn't need an introduction for such obvious information, and Weiss doesn't have anything to add. "If introductions are over, shall we move again? The allotted minute for rest is over right… now. Let's catch up to that airship."

"Hold it." Weiss sudden objection stuns the other pair, wondering why Weiss wants to stop. "Could you repeat that last part again?"

"The allotted minute for rest is over?"

"After that."

"Let's catch up to that airship?"

"Hmm…"

Something is wrong with that. Something just doesn't feel right about what was said there, a contradiction is in the making. Weiss wracks her brain, but doesn't seem to figu-

"Of course, that's it!" Weiss, in a stroke of genius, has managed to figure out what has been bothering her about this initiation. "We're chasing the wrong target!"

The other three look dumbstruck, requiring a bit more explanation.

"Remember what general Ironwood said: We pass if we reach the academy, not if we reach the airship. In other words, we need to go back towards Atlas!"

"That… is factually correct." Nobody can disagree, but as Penny said, that only works in theory. Ruby can easily see some problems with her partner's idea:

"Not to be a spoilsport, but… how do you get up there?" Ruby points at the floating city in the clouds, which is rather high up. "I mean, Penny does have jetpack, but how does the rest get up there?"

It may sound like a problem, but Weiss has an easy solution: "Rather then following that airship for hours, it's better to sneak into Mantle and use one of the ships at the dust transportation center. A Schnee should have no problem hitching a ride to Atlas."

Even if it's true, it doesn't sit well with some others. One of them is Ciel, who has her own questions about the legitimacy of this strategy: "Isn't that against the rules of this initiation?"

Weiss nonchalantly flips her hair at that remark. "I'm Weiss Schnee. My affluence can bend the rules where needed."

"Furthermore," Penny adds "according to the explanation of the rules made by General Ironwood this path of action is not forbidden."

"Well," Ruby says between a few awkward laughs, "legal or not, does anyone know where this dust transportation center is?"

"The SDC dust transport center is 5.453 miles away in that direction." Ciel points her finger 72.56 degrees away from the airship, her ludicrous precision surprising the red-white duo. "First you need to enter Mantle through the North-West gate, which is 4.407 miles away in that direction." Ciel adjusts her finger by 20.82 degrees, as the

"How did you…"

"So precise…"

"Semblance." And there is the end-all to all impossibilities. It's enough for Ruby, but Weiss doesn't take it that easily.

"Now listen here, Ciel. There is no way I can accept such a simple answer. If you have some method of connecting to a tower, it would be better to say so."

"Weiss, access to the grand tower is impossible from this location." Penny stands behind her partner, also pointing out that the only way to know is by a specific semblance. "My partner's semblance allows her to know the exact time and her location on Remnant with a single glance at the sky."

Weiss would like to believe that, but… "That makes no sense! What does the generality of time and specificity of location have to do with one another? It's like having two semblances in one!"

"Schnee family glyphs: Allow for propulsion generation, basic motion manipulation, gravity manipulation, time dilation and summoning of deceased foes."

Ciel's meaning is clear to Weiss, who really doesn't have anything to say about the sensibility and multitude of semblances. The heiress shuts up immediately about the subject, but Ruby seems to be more interested in her partner's semblance.

"Ooh, Weiss, that sounds so cool! Can you show me, please?"

"Ruby, we're in the middle of initiation. As my partner you'll have enough time to see it when we aren't busy with something important, so knock it off."

"Pwetty Pwease~?" Weiss starts into the puppy eyes of her partner, and caves in to its sadness.

"Ugh… fine then. One example, then we continue moving." Weiss stands underneath one of the trees and gives it a good kick. The snow on top of the branches shake and fall off, threatening to shower Weiss with their white coldness. The heiress naturally predicted this, as she forms a single glyph above her head. Like a parasol the snow that should've landed on top of her stays on the glyph, leaving not a single speck on the heiress. She steps away from the glyph before dismissing it, letting the snow fall to its natural place.

"There. Happy now?"

"Yay! That was so cool! Man, I'm so happy my partner is this awesome!"

"Yes, yes, I know. Now do you want to gawk at me for the rest of the day or go back to the academy?"

"Oh, yeah, right." Ruby points at Ciel, asking the tanned girl to lead the way back home. Ciel is however more reluctant, and points out that everyone forgot something:

"Did you three forget about the army?"

Weiss and Ruby don't know what Ciel is talking about, but Penny does. Repeating the exact words of Ironwood, she tells duo RW about the pursuing Atlesian army who are meant to catch stragglers.

"Ehm, Weiss…" Ruby has become a tad less optimistic about the return to Atlas plan. "The four of us are awesome, yes, but not yet 'pawning an army' awesome."

Ciel and Penny also doubt that they could take on such a force. They need a way to evade the army, which might be hard if they thoroughly search the forest.

If fighting is not an option, then they need something else. Ruby remembers the old games she played with Yang when she was younger. If she didn't want to be found, she hides somewhere out of sight. "We need a place to hide, right?"

"During this time of year? Too little leaves, too much white snow."

Ciel has a point, but that doesn't mean that Ruby gives up on the idea. "We could build an igloo?" Ruby instead offers her own possibility. "I mean, I used to make them with my sister when it was snowing in Patch… and it might be fun."

"As fun as that would be, I don't think I need to remind you that the literal Atlesian army is at our heels. Ruby, do you really think that we have the time to make one?"

"Oh… you're right." A saddened Ruby discards her idea and is ready to give up. However, someone chooses to stand by her side on this matter:

"No, Ruby's plan might work." It's Ciel of all people who backs the red huntress up. "We do not have enough time to make a conventional igloo. However, we should have enough time to build full cover if we were to utilize ice dust."

Ciel looks everyone over, eventually fixing her gaze between Crescent Rose and Mytenaster. "Ruby, Weiss, do you two have ice dust prepared?"

Ruby pulls out a clip of ice rounds and reloads her weapon, while Weiss fills two of her empty chambers with light-blue vials. Yep, there's enough to create some cover. Weiss takes the initiative and summons a very large glyph on the ground. It shimmers blue for a second before large spikes of ice shoot out of the ground. Like pillars they form a dome around the four huntresses.

Together with the ground the quartet has cover from five directions. Ruby jumps out of their igloo, to see how well it's made. Yeah, it's good cover. Shimmering ice, thick and opaque enough that it's impossible to see what's on the other side. However, even without the roof there is another major problem.

"Hey, what do we do about the footprints?"

Right, footprints. Looking around there's a lot of footprints that suddenly stop at the big ice fortress. It doesn't take a genius to deduce their hiding spot.

The four girls think about possibilities, each giving options that are quickly dismissed. Prints in the snow, so the snow needs to disappear… Hang on, that might work. It would solve both the footprint and the unnatural ice problem!

"Weiss, can you create one of your glyphs right about here?" Ruby waves in the empty air above the ice, using her arms to form a circle. Weiss does not have a reason to complain but would like to know what kind of crazy idea her partner has. Ruby is more than willing to share:

"I'm going to create a snowstorm!"

"That sounds like the plan of an imbecilic moron. Honestly, the only reason I'm going along with it is that I don't have any better ideas." While Weiss grumbles and complains, she does what she was asked to do and creates a glyph.

"Okay, yeah, that's perfect! Keep it going until I hit it!" Ruby runs off a small distance, stretching her legs to give herself maximum mobility. Immediately she activates her semblance, dashing through the snow field at her maximum speed, perhaps even faster than she ever ran in her life. She is so fast that her movement creates a vortex of wind behind her. The wind sweeps up the snow, erasing all the footprints into a snowstorm that is on Ruby's tail.

With a final leap she jumps, aiming for the newly-created glyph. Ruby lands against the glyph, reducing her forward momentum to zero. With the speed gone she falls downward, straight into the fortification where Ciel and Penny catch her. Weiss summons a new glyph that covers the entirety of the open roof, and just in time: The large vortex of snow that Ruby created flies over the ice, covering the structure under a layer of snow. Everything goes dark, as it's impossible for light to enter through the snow.

Covered in snow the igloo appears to be part of nature, like a big snowy rock. There're also no more footprints left, all wiped away by Ruby's vortex. It's perfect, this is something that nobody will suspect of being a hideout! Penny pokes a few holes with her swords in the ice, small enough to look inconspicuous from the outside but big enough to let a bit of air in so they can breathe. Everyone keeps quiet, gazing out of the small holes to see if the enemy has arrived.

Only a few minutes after the igloo was finished do they see Atlesian androids leading the vanguard of the army. Everyone keeps quiet, trying not to make any sounds that can be traced to their location.

The robots are trained to scan for people and grimm. Equipped with both state-of-the-art cameras and night vision, their ability to pick up signs of life is incredible. Luckily for the quartet they lack any sort of vision that can see them through a layer of snow and ice, and after a quick search they move on.

Following closely behind them are human soldiers, who may have worse vision but do a more thorough search. Everyone desperately holds their breath as one of the soldiers comes right next to their location. He wipes some snow off the igloo and finds the layers of unnatural ice.

Is this it? Did their plan fail here? The soldier looks at the curiosity of nature some more, wondering if he should spend some ammo to crack this ice open. Choices, choices…

"Keep moving soldier!" One of the higher-ranked sergeants yells at the soldier, forcing him to continue his march. The huntresses almost let out sighs of relief but realize that doing so might attract some of the soldiers. Silently they wait, looking through the few tiny holes until there's no more soldiers in sight. Even with no more enemies directly visible there might be a third wave of the Atlesian Army, so they stay still for two more minutes. With no life in sight Weiss dismisses her glyph, causing the snow piled up on the glyph to fall on the group of four.

Ruby is the first to stand up from the cold shower and shakes the snow out of her hair. The other three soon follow, all but Penny shaking off the traces of snow. The group stretch out their legs, looking around to see nothing but empty forest.

Everyone's suspicion is confirmed: They've successfully snuck past the army. On Ruby's initiative high-fives are inbound, which are somewhat reluctantly given to her by Weiss and Ciel. Still, they must admit that this plan worked. They've completed initiation without so much as a single fight, instead relying entirely on their smarts! With happy hearts the quartet move towards Atlas, hoping to be in time for lunch break.

With no Atlas troops between the huntresses and Atlas, the road home was quite calm. All grimm they could encounter were slain by the army, and with a brisk walking pace they reach the border of Atlas in under an hour.

"Well, there's the entrance to Mantle." The group has finally reached the border of the city, still covered by some of the trees on the outskirts. This part of the city borders the glimmering forest, requiring extra protection to keep the city safe from grimm invasions. Large walls surround this part of Mantle to keep the grimm out, the only entrance for a mile being right in front of them.

It's also decently guarded, of course. Usually they're on patrol against grimm, but this time they might also try to stop some huntresses-in-training. Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose in rifle form and surveys the entrance road through her scope. A quick headcount lets Ruby count about thirty black robots. According to Penny this means that they must face thirty-six AK-130 androids, as they're always stationed in units of twelve. Nine robots per person. That sounds doable, righ-?

The robots suddenly turn red, their visors slipping over their heads. One of them steps towards the group, a robotic voice coming from its speakers.

"INTRUDERS. IDENTIFY YOURSELVES."

Uh-oh. Ruby's been spotted, and the robots don't sound too friendly. Ruby steps forward, hoping to get through with plan A: "Hello, my name is Ruby Rose, and behind me are my friends. I'm part of Atlas academy, and I would like to enter. Would you please let me pass?"

"PARTY RECOGNIZED AS ATLESIAN INITIATES. ACCESS DENIED."

Welp, so much for asking nicely. Time to deploy plan B: "Attack!"

A dash and two quick slashes cut the robot in four, leaving only 35 of them to destroy. The robots look at each other, affirming the enemy's hostility, and proceed to attack. The rest of the huntresses come out of hiding too, starting the battle.

Half of the robots switch to gatling mode, while the others utilize their sword arms. Ruby parries the hail of bullets, before using a combination of weapon recoil and semblance to dash over a group of gunners. Spinning downwards she cuts straight through the middle robot, before utilizing a shot of her rifle to scatter its remains.

Four robots surround Ruby, their guns whirring and anticipating to riddle a red reaper with bullets. Their guns fire like a hailstorm, but before they can hit Ruby the young huntress already jumped upwards. With a single horizontal blow she decapacitates the androids, landing on the ground at the same time as the headless bodies.

Weiss joins the battlefield with a long-distance trust, sliding over many glyphs to build up speed and piercing a robot close to Ruby. A flurry of stabs destroys the machine's critical circuits, falling lifelessly to the ground. Three others are intent on firing their guns at Weiss, but her glyphs are faster. Swords of ice embed themselves in the robots, falling down to never fire again.

Two others swing their blades at Weiss, who counters by stabbing her rapier into the ground. Immediately a glyph is formed around the Schnee and the two robots, before spikes of ice rise from the ground and stab through their remains.

A large group of swordsmen rush out at the red-white duo, but their friend Penny doesn't let her friends get hurt. Ten blades form a spinning circle of death, cutting through the first three with her first swing and another two with the second. Five robots refocus their attack on Penny, now running at the redhead to slash her down. Quick math indicates that there's two swords for every android, which is exactly the presents they deserve. Like a storm of blades Penny's weapons fly down at the group, penetrating through their armor. To ensure their deaths Penny orders her swords to slash around, leaving gaping holes in the android knights they will never recover from.

Ciel looks at her teammates, and sighs. Such flashiness and extravaganza, who thought that was necessary in a fight? With a single step she crosses twenty yards to punch through the heart of a nearby robot. Three more seek destroy Ciel and fire their guns at her.

Ciel doesn't possess any ranged capabilities. Luckily the battlefield is filled with natural cover, like the tree next to her. She twists her shoulders and back, drawing power from her feet, and lightly taps the tree to break it in half. Picking up the tree trunk as a shield she advances on the robots, their bullet sticking harmlessly into the wood. Ciel walks through the robots, using the tree to trip up the mechanical enemies. Three strikes are enough to drop the enemy's numbers by the same amount.

The group took out twenty-six robots in about fifteen seconds, leaving only 10 remaining. The clean-up shouldn't be much harder.

Hang on, where's android number ten? There's only nine left around the gate, did someone make a counting mistake?

No, its disappearance is not because of a counting error. The group quickly finds out where the last guy went, or to be more precise where it went into:

Dropping from the top of the wall is a gigantic quadruped droid. Four legs for mobility over an upright body, with four arms that each hold a large cannon. Colored in grey and red like the AK-130's, its body is somewhat reminiscent of a spider.

Ruby takes the moment for a preemptive strike but gets kicked away by one of the legs. As she recovers Weiss and Penny take initiative to attack, launching ice and swords respectively at the metal monstrosity. The weapons embed themselves in the spider droid, but don't seem to do much more than focusing the machine's attention on the duo. Gunfire from the machine's four barrels is headed straight for them, requiring some elegant acrobatics to dodge.

Out in the back Ruby takes a few potshots with her rifle. The bullets don't seem to harm the spider, whose tough exoskeleton reflects all shots. On the bright side, some of the reflected shots hit a pair of AK-130's, causing both to stop functioning. This catches the attention of the remaining AK's, who are more then eager to strike Ruby down.

Ciel snuck up to the side and strikes one of the legs with her fist. It doesn't do much more than making a dent. The armor of that spider droid is thick and strong, much better than the rabble of the mass-produced AK-130's. Ciel's abilities are not suited for fighting heavily-armored opponents, so she jumps away and prepares for clear-up duty. There are seven AK-130 droids left, but most of them are far away and focused on her allies.

That won't do.

Luckily for Ciel there's a destroyed robot next to where she landed. Punching through a hole opened by her partner's slash wound, she grabs some metal and circuitry from inside the robot on retrieving her hand. Opening her left palm she sees she has quite a bunch of scrap, but only five pieces suit her need. Dropping all the rest she keeps those five in her opened left palm.

As the robots near Ruby she begins to fire. Using only the right index finger, she shoots the metal pieces from her palm. The striking of the finger, in other words, the act of finger flicking, sent the scraps flying one by one with such extreme speed that they are like bullets. The scraps pierce through five different robots, but only two of the hits are critical and outright stop them. One of them only scratched the surface and did no significant damage; another pierced through the shoulder, disabling one of the arms. The last managed to pierce too low, only negating robot's use of the legs. Luckily Ruby could cut through the disabled robots without trouble, leaving only the two closest to the spider droid.

Tsk, ranged weapons are such a bother. Time to move up and rely on her fists again.

The droids look around and accesses the situation. Even though the massive spider doesn't receive much damage it realizes that the situation is dire, with most of its allies having been destroyed. Realizing the power of the intruders the droid decides to go all out. Bringing its four arms together, it prepares to fire a massive laser.

Three of the girls realize the danger and start to dodge. The only one who does not is Penny. If it comes to power output, she should be more than on par with a mass-produced machine like that. Her swords start spinning in front of her like a cylinder, green energy gathering between her blades.

The spider droid recognizes Penny as the most pressing threat and fires its beam at the redhead. Penny retaliates by firing her own, and the two beams of energy clash in the middle, causing huge waves of pressure and energy to be released to the sides.

The other three look at the beam struggle straight out of some five-year-old's tv show, each with their own reaction. Weiss' groan of annoyance was expected, as is Ruby's hyperactive joy:

"That is so cool!"

Ciel just stares stoically as she elbows the head off another robot.

The struggle seems to be even, with neither side giving in. If only there was something they could do to help. Ruby doesn't have any massive beams to fire, preferring normal shots and scythe slashes. How can she help Penny win?

…

Maybe…

"Hey Weiss, got any glyphs to propel me forward? I've got a plan."

Weiss rolls her eyes at the notion. "Of course you do…"

"Look, just make one that lets me jump towards those arms of it. I'll take care of slicing them off."

"In the middle of its attack? That is a plan so stupid that only you can come up with it." Ruby laughs awkwardly, but Weiss doesn't cut off the deal. Carefully she creates a black glyph in the air, and Ruby jumps up on it.

"Make the shot, Weiss!"

The heiress does as told. She releases all the energy of the glyph in a single burst. Ruby flies at amazing speeds towards the droid and combined with her semblance and Crescent Rose's recoil she reaches top speeds never seen before in her life.

With this high speed she swings, the blade of her scythe digging into the metal arms. Ruby can feel her body jerking backwards, caught on the sudden collision between weapons, but an extra recoil shot from the rifle part gives Crescent Rose just enough power to cleave right through droid's arms.

The spider droid, having lost all four of its arms, cannot maintain the precision and condensation to fire its energy in a straight line. The beam diffuses, scattering in the surroundings, weakening it enough for Penny's attack to pierce through. Laser meets metal and obliterates it. The middle of the droid has been completely obliterated, and so has the robot controlling it. A single head falls out of the cockpit, its body disintegrated by the beam. With the pilot dead and most functions malfunctioning, the robot drops down. If the four huntresses weren't sure if they'd won, it also explodes for good measure, taking with it the last of the AK-130's that weren't taken out by Ciel.

"Hah…" Okay, finally, it's over. The spider droid was tough, but it should be the last member of the android army. Since there's nothing left moving the team can sneak into Mantle. Just move through the streets, avoid any confrontation and walk towards the dust transportation center where Weiss can hitch a ride. Can't be that hard, right?

"Sneaking past the Atlesian army and taking down three AK-130 platoons are commendable feats for a new team of huntresses. I shall grant you that." An unknown female voice announces itself, stepping out of an alleyway onto the street leading into Mantle. "However, do not think that that is sufficient. I taught you better than that, Weiss."

The young heiress only needs the voice to recognize the newest opposition they're facing. She slumps down a little before correcting her posture, realizing that she's not allowed to show weakness in front of her. Therefore she stands tall and greets her sister:

"Winter…"

* * *

"In other words, your Sun Xiang and Sun Shang are not chakrams?"

Yang and Vernal have been walking through the Emerald Forest for about an hour now. Thanks to Vernal's knowledge of living in the wilderness the duo managed to set a reasonably fast pace while still having ample time for conversation to learn about each other better.

Family, hobbies, interests, abilities. Yang told all about herself and more. Vernal seemed to only listen with half an ear, but she has the eerie ability to keep up and even predict some parts of Yang's story. If the blonde didn't know any better, she would guess that's her semblance.

Vernal's story also struck in Yang's mind: An adopted daughter of the chieftain of a nomad tribe, she came to this academy to learn how she could better protect her people. She's prideful, smug and confident, with a bit of a teasing streak, yet fiercely loyal to those she swears allegiance to.

"Obviously, Yang." Vernal unfolds one of her weapons, pointing out at some of the hooks etched on the circular blade. "A chakram is a perfectly round hoop meant for throwing. This is a wind and fire blade from northern Mistral. It's not meant as a projectile, so I included these pistols for range."

Yang understands the weapon better, but there's one particular use that doesn't make sense:

"…Then why did you throw your weapon at that Ursa?"

"I…" Vernal doesn't have an answer ready, and her smug façade cracks wide open. Flustered, she tells her partner to shut up about that moment. "It… looked cool. That's it."

And perhaps the best part about her is that she makes the most adorable faces whenever her charisma breaks. Yang can't help but tease her teammate back whenever possible.

The duo eventually reaches a small cliff, from which they have good view on some old ruins. The place is desolate, but not unvisited. Footprints in nearby mud tell of earlier visitors, as well as the pedestals that seem to be recently installed at the location. Yang and Vernal jump off the cliff, observing what in their opinion is their destination.

"Think those are the relics Ozpin was talking about?"

Eighteen chess pieces are located within this ruin, half of them black, and half of them gold. Pawns, Rooks, Bishops, Knights and Kings. Each of them is standing on a separate pedestal.

"Probably." Vernal and Yang inspect the ruins a bit more, and quickly Yang makes a new discovery:

"There seem to be a few missing." Two pedestals are completely empty. Furthermore, there's only one white pawn and black king, while the other pieces have two each. Going by logic, that means that two other groups managed to reach this place before them and take away a relic. "Seems like we weren't the first ones here."

Vernal picks up a few of the pieces, not finding anything special about them. In other words, the choice of accessory they pick up will not influence their grading. With no reason to choose Vernal leaves the choice of relic up to her partner, who starts to think about what she wants to take home.

For Yang it also doesn't really matter that much which ones they pick. Yang may recognize that these are chess pieces, but she doesn't have a clue how the game is played. So, she goes for the piece that appeals to her the most:

"How about a cute pony?"

Vernal, on the other hand, seems to have a different idea. She walks over to the opposite site of the ruins and picks up the black knight piece.

"If we're going with a pony, let's at least make it a cool one."

Fair enough. Yang shrugs at her partner's idea and puts the golden piece in her hand back on the pedestal. Vernal attaches the black piece to her belt, and the duo are ready to go… were it not for Vernal opting that they stay a bit longer.

"Stay? What, tired already from the trek?"

Vernal scoffs at the line. Tiredness? She didn't live in the wilds for this long to be tired from a simple walk. "Of course not. Perhaps I just want to see a few of the other teams. Who knows, we might see something fun."

"Eh, whatever." Yang doesn't really care. She's not in a hurry to return to Ozpin. They're not judged on time, so no need to rush here.

The black knight pair waits at their location. Vernal quietly sits against one of the pillars, while Yang paces around in a circle. She gets more and more fidgety with every passing second, less able to keep her calm. It only takes a minute or two for the blonde to snap:

"Argh! I'm bored! I want to go back, do something, anything's better than here!" Yang goes over to her partner, forcing her to leave these ruins.

Vernal still hasn't stayed back here for long enough. If Yang doesn't want to join her on her stay, perhaps a little… incentive needs to be given. And what better incentive than money itself?

"Bet you ten lien that the next pair arriving at the relic site is a boy and a girl."

Yang thinks the offer over. She knows that Vernal is playing her. If she accepts, they're forced to stay until at least the arrival of the next pair. But if Vernal loses, then Yang has a pretty good charisma breaker for her partner. That would be hilarious to see.

After weighing the pros and cons of the bet, Yang decides to accept the offer. Excitedly she awaits the next pair to arrive, hoping to win some money here.

The answer is given two minutes later. From the same cliffs Yang and Vernal entered a new figure steps out. Yang recognizes him as her neighbor on the platforms: It's the orange-headed beefcake, which means that if Yang wants to win some lien his partner needs to be another guy. Or a grimm, that would be fine too.

Wait, there in the bushes, that rustling… who will come out as the second of beefcake's pair?

…

Is that pudgy face? Hey, he did something well for once! That's one bet won for Yang, and she's ten lien richer!

"Heya guys!" The least she can do for her moneymakers is to greet them amicably. "Name's Yang Xiao-Long, and over there's my partner, Vernal." Vernal doesn't look up when her name is called and lets her blonde partner deal with the guys. She's still a bit sore about losing money.

Pudgy face politely introduces himself as Dove Bronzewing, but his "charming method" creeps Yang a little bit out. Luckily for her more fun is to be had with the haughty introduction of Dove's partner:

"The name's Cardin Winchester. Pity for you that you didn't get paired with the best possible partner."

"Oh?" Now that's an interesting claim, and one that's also very easy to manipulate. "You might be right. Considering how much better Dove's stance is than yours, I'm pretty sure you lucked out, yes."

Dove lets out a silent chuckle, but Cardin… oh, he does not perceive this insult against him well. Angrily he fits at Yang, threatening to give a friendly meeting between his weapon and Yang's face.

Yang smirks at those words. The big boy wants to fight? Heh, Yang's fought harder, better, faster and stronger opponents, and she still came out on top. Perhaps if Dove joins in it might be a fair match, but this is heavily in Yang's favor.

"Cardin, forget about this. Just grab a piece and let's get back." Luckily for Yang, or too bad for her, Dove seems more interested in diffusing the situation. And this time certainly too bad for Yang, the big brute seems to listen.

The beefcake stomps towards the pedestals and grabs the black bishop. He walks back, away from Yang, but not before giving one final sneer:

"I'll get you for this, Xiao-Long."

"Whenever you want, wherever you want. Ready when you are."

The big guy isn't intimidated by Yang's bravado and storms off. Dove follows right behind him, leaving the two girls alone.

"Good for you, Yang. You've got an enemy already."

"True. And I've got ten lien, which is about the same as the debt you have, right?"

"Don't remind me. Same bet, same rules?"

Cockily Yang accepts it, causing a small smile on the Mistralian's face. It might be costing her some money, but at least Yang wants to stick around a little longer.

This time it takes about three minutes of quiet waiting, but there arrive the next couple. Blake and Ilia, walking side by side, and Vernal's angered expression tells enough about who won:

"Oh come on! Again?"

"Too bad! so close, though!" That's a total of twenty free lien for Yang! Money come to mommy~!

"Quit trying to look cool, Yang!"

Yang leaves her flustered teammate and walks over to the other pair, congratulating them on managing to partner up.

"Thank you." Ilia stoically accepts the compliment, and returns it as a question: "Did you get a good partner?"

"Well, she did make me twenty lien richer. And she's fun to hang around, so guess so."

The conversation turns uncomfortably silent. As far as Yang can tell, Blake is rather introverted. The blonde doesn't blame her for not talking much. Ilia doesn't appear to be the same way, there's more a feeling of tranquil hostility, of leaving each other alone unless she wants to. And as she said during the meeting yesterday, Yang won't let such hostility exist in her presence:

"So, continuing from yesterday, mind if we get to know a bit more about you two?" Yang did say she wanted to know more about them. Who knows, maybe there's some common ground they can have fun with.

Ilia doesn't really want to talk, but a reassuring gaze from Blake comforts her. "Ilia. Show them how you smile."

Blake's words must've been magic, as a small smile appears on Ilia's face. "What do you want to know? You're aware I'm Ilia Amitola, but what else do you need?"

"Eh, how about you two start on where you're from? I mean, I'm from Patch, and my buddy over there is from the Mistalian wilds. How about you two?"

"We're from the city of Atlas, though I was born in Mantle."

Atlesian?

"That's fantastic!" Ilia and Blake look surprised at the sudden outburst from the blonde, who is quick to ask more. "Hey, do you have any good advice for my sister? She's a freshmen at Atlas Academy, and might be able to use some tips for that place."

"So you do have siblings your age?" Ugh, don't remind Yang of the Jaune debacle. Getting accused of being his sister once is bad enough as it is.

"Well, technically she's two years younger than me. She managed to transfer a bit early. But yeah, it would be nice if I could give her some advice." Knowing Ruby, she could probably need it.

"Advice other then staying away from anything Schnee-related?"

Perhaps a good tip, but not what Yang needs. "I was more thinking about good bars, restaurants, those kinds of things. Y'know, places that any newcomer needs to settle?"

Ilia thinks for a moment, not sure how to answer. The places she knows are rather two-sided: Either they're reminders of her time faking as a human, places that are littered with racism and prejudice; Otherwise they're faunus havens, where normal humans are looked at with wary eyes. Ilia doesn't want to recommend either of those.

"I… can't say much about that. I'm not your sister, and your sister isn't me. I think she needs to find her own place out there according to her own preferences."

Eh, it is advice Yang would give to her own sister if she was there. Who knows, maybe she already found some good places to hang out.

Blake has walked past Yang, looking at the pieces on the pedestals. "Are these the relics?" Vernal and Yang both confirm that, giving Blake some thought. "Ilia, what do we pick…"

Ilia and Blake discuss for a moment which piece best suits them, but eventually decide to settle on the remaining black knight. That's something which did not go unnoticed by Vernal, who turns to Yang with a small faked grimace:

"I've lost enough lien for one day. Want to join Ilia and Blake back to the drop point?"

That's a sudden one-eighty of her original behavior. Still, if Vernal wants to go, then who is Yang to say no? Traveling in a group with Vernal, Blake and Ilia should be fun, and any grimm will be slaughtered before they know it.

The quartet is ready to go back towards Ozpin, but this time their rest is interrupted by a scream in the far distance.

"Did you hear that? Some girl's in trouble!"

Everyone's reaction is different. Blake is somewhat instinctively setting steps away from the direction of the scream, Vernal ignores it completely, while Ilia is pretty sure that the screamer is not a girl. The chameleon points eastwards, and gestures for the rest to do the same.

The three others look at the eastern skies, or to be more precise at the human projectile flying towards them. It's a very familiar shape… in fact, Yang recognizes who it is, but can barely believe it:

"Jaune?"

"It seems so." Blake too looks aghast that her fellow booklover is currently soaring wildly through the sky, crashing into the nearby treetops. "Do we go after him?"

"Don't think we need to." Vernal points towards the brushes where Jaune landed, which leaves are now brisling. Huh, it appears that Jaune got out of there on his ow-

"Groarh!" Okay, that's not Jaune. That's an ursa, wildly swinging its claws! Yang readies her weapons to attack, but an explosion on the back of the beast reveals a totally different situation:

"Yee-hah!" Is that Nora riding the ursa? With explosions as the steering wheel? Yang is flabbergasted, and so are the other girls at this display. The ursa drops down dead, as a sad Nora looks at her broken vehicle. "Aww, it's broken."

From behind the disintegrating beast Ren appears, looking mightily tired. If the situation wasn't as weird as it is Yang would congratulate them on becoming partners. Ren seems to agree with the absurdity, scolding Nora and asking her to never do so again. Too bad for him his partner has already decided to gaze at the relics, particularly one of the white rook pieces.

With glee she picks up the white rook piece, performing a small dance about how she's the "queen of the castle". The girls start at their absurd brethren, wondering what happened with her. Ilia's possibility seems the most likely of them all:

"Is she… high?"

"Whatever she's on, I would like some of that substance for later." No, bad Vernal, drugs are no good. Especially drugs that turn you into someone like Nora, Yang would rather have smug and confident as her partner over peppy and hyperactive any day of the week.

The absurd situation is broken by a loud noise from the east. Everyone looks in that direction, where a gigantic deathstalker charges through the woodlands, destroying the landscape with its charge. Considering the size of baby and adult deathstalkers, which are much, much smaller, this example must be an elder grimm. Running in front of the beast is Pyrrha, doing her best to escape and not become grimm food.

"Correction, I could use some of those shrooms right now." Yep, and Yang might join her for a bit. Anything is better than gazing at the ridiculousness of this part of the initiation.

Yang can feel her anger building. All this stupidity, absurdity, plain dumbness… Her eyes are still lilac, but they're close to turning red.

"Did she run all the way over here with a deathstalker on her tail?" Blake. No. Don't clarify the stupidity here. Yang's this close to breaking, and if one more person makes a dumb comment, sh-

"Ooh, I wonder if I could ride a deathstalker." Nora….! "Want to help me try, Ren?"

Okay, that's it! That's the last straw! "Argh, I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens?"

1 second…

2 seconds…

…

Nothing?

Huh, no more crazy stuff. Nothing on the ground, nothing in the air. Just the crazy they already had. Neat-o.

Right, with that back to normal, let's see what crazy is left and how it can be solved:

Flying Jaune… well, that's almost over. Carefully he climbs out of the tree and runs towards the group of six at the relic site. Winded, he relays his needs:

"Guys… deathstalker… Pyrrha." Jaune's words are slurred from exhaustion, but the message comes through. It wasn't that hard to guess considering what's going on to the east. Ren wordlessly nods and draws his twin machine guns, with Nora ready to go hammertime. Together with Jaune they run off to save Pyrrha, while Yang finishes her crazy list:

Riding ursai… not a problem anymore. Not a single one of those grimm is still alive, and its rider is too focused on helping Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha with the deathstalker.

The deathstalker, on the other hand, is still a problem. Currently there's four huntsmen in training trying to remove the problem… well, three of them and Jaune. Yang can't imagine bunny boy to be of much use in a fight. Considering the age of this monster, they might need some help. In fact, they're probably expecting it.

Conclusion: The only problem left is the deathstalker. In other words, kill the big bad nasty elder grimm and everything will be back to normal. And fighting giant monsters, now that's something Yang can get behind!

"All right, guys, let's bag ourselves some deathstalker!"

…

No response. Yang looks behind her, to the rest of the black knight squadron, hoping for some rallying cry from her friends and partner. Instead the group ignored her call and are walking away from the scene.

"Guys? What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Yang can see it as well, but Vernal decides to spell it out: "We're leaving. That deathstalker isn't our problem, and I did tell you I was done sitting around. We're not crazy enough to go into unnecessary fights."

"Wha…"

Thus starts the first conflict of many between Yang and Vernal.

* * *

 **Okay, wow, what a response. When I asked for help, I got quite a few answers. So, let's make a list of everyone who tried to make something from four girls with really uncommon initials that really don't complement each other.**

 **Team IVBY (Ivy), by gothboy & metalfox**

 **Team VIYB/VIBY (Vibe), by Knoke-Cola, metalfox & Stino**

 **Team BIYV (Oblivious), by metalfox**

 **Team VIYB (Vibrant), by Forum Explorer**

 **About Vernal's weapons, since she is officially death in canon RWBY, I doubt her weapon will ever get named. Keeping up with the Mistrallian theme for weapon naming, her wind and fire wheels/pistols are named after Sun Shang Xiang, a Chinese princess from the 3** **rd** **century who thanks to Dynasty Warriors is famous for using a similar pair of wind and fire wheels.**


	5. Chapter 1-4

Ruby stares between her partner and the woman in front of them. The familiar way which these two adress each other, as well as that uncommon white hair colour that is mainly prevalent in Weiss' family… there must be a connection between these two women.

"Hey Weiss, mind introducing us to your family?"

"A-Ah, uhm, yes!" Weiss quickly recovers her wits, but her body stays tense, ready to run at any moment. "Ciel, Penny, Ruby; this is my older sister, Winter Schnee."

Yeah, with extra emphasis on the 'older' part. Considering the difference in development between these two it appears that Weiss didn't eat her vegetables when she was younger.

"It is wonderful to meet you again, miss Winter." Penny politely bows towards the elder Schnee, a small bit of happiness in her voice. "How are the AK-200 combat tests getting along?"

"There were a few problems with the internal weapon systems, which is currently looked into. Your father's new design for the leg hydraulics did manage to increase the android's mobility, much to our relief. At the current rate of development, the AK-200's will be combat ready before the start of the Vytal festival."

Well, this is unexpected. Weiss is surprised that Penny is acquainted with her own sister, talking about subjects within the military that should be kept a bit more secret around huntsmen initiates. Interested in the connection, Weiss asks her fellow huntress-in-training what her connection is with Winter.

Happy that someone is interested in her background the redhead starts to talk about her own past: "That is a phenomenal question, Weiss! I would be glad to answer:" Penny starts a small story about her father, the chief engineer and man responsible for the AK-line of combat droids utilized by the Atlesian army. Winter's semblance is the simplest and most controllable anti-grimm test the army has available, which causes Winter to be a common occurrence at the research and development site. As Penny was often found there as well, the duo met each other often enough.

"She also helped developing my weapon and oversaw my training with it."

Wait, Penny got training from her sister too? Winter is a good trainer, and it's not surprising that others would want her help and advice. So why is Weiss feeling this betrayed? Is this… jealousy? Huh, Weiss did not think she would feel that emotion for her future teammates.

With a small thanks to her fellow initiate the heiress turns back to her sister, asking the one question that's been on her mind since seeing her:

"Winter, can I ask what brought you in the vicinity?" Weiss has a small gut feeling about Winter's purpose, which only gets confirmed by the specialist herself:

"Did you not get notified by general Ironwood that the Atlesian army has the task of preventing new initiates from taking the simple route back to Atlas? While I do not know how you four managed to slip past the army, I swear upon my title as an Atlas specialist that you will not continue on this path."

Weiss audibly gulps at that, being the first to realize that Winter is not just here for visiting purposes only. Her fears only increase when Winter lines out the options:

"You are free to leave and regroup with the airship. If you choose to do so, I will not chase after you. However, if any of you take even one step forwards, I will do everything in my power to take you down."

"But we can't even see the airship in the skies anymore." Ruby complains, pointing out the very obvious shortcoming in retreating. "Finding its landing spot is impossible!"

The specialist is unrelenting in her words: "That is a problem you created yourselves after deciding to head to this place instead of following standard protocol."

Ouch, Winter is truly merciless. The four of them are now faced with a massive dilemma: Returning to where they once came from would be an impossibility, as Ciel's semblance only works to determine her own location. It's useless for determining the location of the airship, and the chance of passing is slim to none. On the other hand, Weiss and Penny know perfectly well that their current opponent is leagues above them.

Caught in-between two fires, is there any hope for escape?

*BOOM*

The sound of gunfire fills the air, as a dust cartridge flies out of Crescent Rose's chamber. Weiss and Ciel stare slack jawed at the youngest member of the quartet, who just shot a bullet at Winter. Surprise turns into anger for Weiss, who lashes out at her partner:

"Hey, what are you thinking, suddenly shooting at my older sister? Do you want to start a fight with her?"

"What? She said she would only fight us if we took a step towards her. Last time I checked I stayed exactly where I am." It's true. Ruby didn't move her lower body at all, as she simple struck her scythe in the ground to allow a pot-shot at the enemy. No rules broken there.

"Trusting the words of the enemy." Ciel mutters those words with annoyance, unable to understand the actions of the red reaper. "That action… is unsound."

"Aww, what'cha talking about?" The trio continues kibbling for a bit, until the fourth member pulls them out of their thoughts:

Penny points the group towards Winter, whose rapier is drawn but now hanging loosely at her side. She keeps her promise of not attacking, as no one stepped closer towards Mantle. Looking at the bullet hole in the snow a few feet away from the specialist it's clear that she swatted the bullet away with the greatest of ease.

Using this knowledge combined with that of previous encounters Penny knows exactly how much trouble the group is in: "Based on the known combat capabilities of us four compared to the knowledge I have on miss Winter's abilities I estimate our chance at beating her around three percent."

Okay, those are very bad odds. Weiss already took two steps back, ready to suggest to the other three to go after the airship. Even though the chance is small, it's better than duelling her sister. Ciel and Penny are willing to follow, but Ruby doesn't give up that easily:

"So, if we can't fight her…" Ruby wrecks her brain, trying to think of any other method with which they can enter Atlas' premise. "Perhaps take her out without fighting?"

"Why yes Ruby, how smart of you!" Weiss replies sarcastically. "Tell us what kind of genius idea you have to take out my sister."

Ruby, sarcasm-blind as she is, takes this as the cue to tell everyone of her plans. "Weiss, you got any blackmail material on your sister? We threaten to release that to the public unless she lets us through. Problem solved!"

"W-What?!" Weiss shouts out in disbelieve, the grip on Myrtenaster tightening so hard that her knuckles turn white. "No! We do not resort to blackmail! A Schnee does not demean herself by such atrocious methods! How could you even think of that, you dunce!"

"Furthermore," Winter interjects, having listened in on the conversation with half an ear, "I can guarantee that my possession of incriminating material on my sister greatly outsizes the reverse." The small smirk on the older ice queen says it all: for every embarrassing story Weiss tells, Winter has three more to return fire with. A battle of words will be a devastating defeat for the younger sister.

Operation blackmail can be scrapped, and it's time to come up with a second option. Of course, Ruby has just the right idea in mind: "Well, how about bribery?"

"Bribing a Schnee?" Even Ciel can see the problem in that idea. "Money is a non-issue for them."

"Besides, even if we were short on money a Schnee would never surrender her honour for material gains."

Okay, that plan won't work either. Um, what options are left? All Ruby has left is pleading, which she gives a shot: "Hey Winter, you really can't just let us through just this once? We won't tell anyone about it!"

Winter doesn't even need words to reject that idea, a simple glare enough to tell Ruby of her folly.

Welp, that was Ruby's last idea. Turning to her friends she solemnly tells them that she's done. In a breath of relief Weiss finally points out that they need to go back, hopefully still reaching the airship.

"Now look here, Ruby: You may have tried it multiple times now, but we cannot force our way in. We are not capable of fighting off my sister."

Yep. Fighting is a non-possibility. Ruby hangs her shoulders low in defeat, accepting the truth that they cannot… fight… her…

"That's it!" Of course, how could Ruby forget that? This entire initiation was one giant attempt at misdirection. Weiss noticed that they needed to reach the academy, and not the airship. If Atlas used such a tactic once, they might use a similar tactic twice!

Ruby gathers everyone together, whispering her plan to the team so that Winter won't listen in on their tactics.

Everyone's is reacting differently to the final tactic: Weiss is appalled, sarcastically mentioning that it takes a dunce like Ruby to come up with such an idea. Ciel is mildly impressed, admitting that while not perfect it is the most efficient strategy. Penny simply takes it all in and recalculates the odds for success, determining that with that strategy the odds become fifty-fifty.

It's enough for the red reaper. With agreement on the plan, it's time to get into action!

With a blast of her scythe Ruby jumps towards the specialist, scythe swinging in to strike through aura. Surprising no one Winter parries the strike, but Ruby only renews her attack. Constantly moving, constantly attacking. Against an opponent like this she cannot give an inch or else she will be defeated quickly.

"You've made your choice. I'm afraid I'll have to perform my duty." Winter parries and counters, waiting for the support from the other three fighters.

There they are, running in at full speed. Ciel is running the fastest, followed by the other two. Winter immediately makes plans in her head for quick takedowns of the enemy: Force the scythe wielder out of range with a sidestep, before ducking under the martial artist's attack. Unleash a flurry of thrusts on her, then sprint towards her own sister and take her out.

Winter's plan is a solid counter. She sidesteps Ruby, who overspeeds and lands too far away from the older Schnee. Ciel runs towards Winter, before coming to a sudden stop and ducking sideways.

Huh, that's not what Winter expected of them. Rather than Ciel it's the other two who provide continuous support while running, as shards of ice join with laserbeams to create a hail of projectiles aimed at the specialist. Winter weaves her way through the projectiles, before a stinger of a trust is aimed at Penny.

The redhead sees the attack and dodges, but rather than attack back she increases her sprint speed. In fact, so are Ciel and Weiss, who are making a beeline for the streets of Mantle.

"They're running?" Confusedly Winter stares at the huntresses that flee the scene. What is Weiss thinking? Turning a fight into a chase, this will only allow Winter to pick them off at her leisure!

"Most of them!" Winter looks back at the maker of that noise, where a red-hooded huntress swings her scythe like a guillotine. With a hasty move she blocks the strike, leaving herself just open enough for Ruby to step on Winter's toes.

Both the pain and the loss of aura is negligible, the only thing being wounded is her pride as a specialist. Giving the first strike to a huntress-in-training is far below her level!

Ruby's assault hasn't finished, as in fluid motions she launches one attack after the other. Each blow gets dodged or parried, but the attacks don't stop. Winter smiles amusedly at her opponent, now wanting to test out this girl's defence.

Ruby swings her scythe horizontally, an attack that looks very familiar to that of a certain birdie. It's a strong move, but it's easily countered if you know what to do. Winter jumps up, landing on top of Crescent Rose, smirking as if she were to face one of her most dreaded enemies.

A bewildered Ruby stares at her opponent, a momentary pause that is well-utilized by Winter. She kicks Ruby in the face, throwing the reaper several feet away.

With no reason to stop Winter flings herself at Ruby, prepared to make her the first takedown of the four initiates. A single flurry of trusts should be enough to break this girl's aura!

*Twunk*

The sound of metal hitting metal reverberates through the air, as Ruby managed to use the blade of Crescent Rose to break her flight and the pole to parry Winter's attack. With curiosity Winter continues her assault, feeling a sense of déjà vu towards her fights with another scythe owner.

"I will admit, your scytheplay is impressive for someone your age." Winter compliments Ruby honestly, having enough time to focus on non-combat-oriented tasks in between her jabs and slashes that are only barely parried by the large scythe. "I only know a single person who wields a scythe better than you. His name is Qrow Branwen, perhaps you've heard of him?"

"!"

Did she just say Qrow Branwen? Ruby manages to align the barrel of her scythe with Winter's body. A quick shot forces Winter to parry while Ruby herself manages to use the recoil to put some much-needed distance between the duo of fighters. With no simple way for Winter to attack with such a short blade Ruby has enough time to ask the question that just entered her mind:

"You know my uncle Qrow?"

Winter's attacks fall silent for a moment as she softly mutters the name Qrow a few times, unmoving from where she's standing. Ruby is weirdly confused by this sudden lack of attacks. But if Winter gifts Ruby with a free shot at her, then Ruby won't squander that gift!

With a recoil-boosted sprint Ruby swings her scythe at the specialist, her blade aimed to reap away! A few strikes that hit Winter dead-on, and she will have no choice but to accept Ruby and friends as awesome fledglings who deserve to become official huntresses-in-training!

A swift counter puts an end to that dream, as even a distracted Winter is capable of overpowering someone like Ruby. Within three swings of the scythe the offence shifted back towards Winter, and another two swings later the elder Schnee finds herself in a position where she has grasped Crescent Rose's handle.

Ruby tugs at her weapon, but Winter doesn't let go of Crescent Rose. With a sorrowful yet cathartic look she readies her weapon, to strike.

"My apologies in advance. I will be enjoying this more than I should."

As Winter says that she delivers a savage punch to Ruby's face, followed by a flourish of stabs. The punch hits Ruby's nose dead on, but Ruby recovers quickly enough to at least dodge the brunt of the stabs. Winter does not let go of Ruby's weapon, forcing Ruby to duck and weave around Winter's strikes.

The young huntress tries to think of some way to get out of this mess. Unable to strike with Crescent Rose leaves Ruby's offensive options down to, well, almost zero. Unlike Yang or Ciel, who prefer to let their fists do the talking, Ruby is not exactly good in hand to hand combat. Why should she need to be, Winter is the first person she ever met who could grasp her weapon mid-combat!

What would Yang do right now? Revise that, what would Yang do without Ember Celica?

Okay, that's not a difficult question. Yang would punch Winter really hard or die trying. But Ruby isn't Yang. Her punches don't pack any, well, punch; Any kicks she performs in combat are made using the momentum of Crescent Rose, her body an extension of the scythe.

It seems like Ruby must use her head to get out of this conundrum. Ruby has one attack left, one that not even Winter sees coming. Ruby opens her mouth and bites down on Winter's arm…

…only to immediately feels a sharp pain in her mouth. What the hell is aura made of, it feels like she bit into stone! Still, it appears that Ruby is not the only one who felt that, as Winter reflexively opens the hand that held onto Crescent Rose. With nothing holding her scythe down Ruby blurs away from Winter's position, overthinking how to deal with her enemy.

It's clear to Ruby that Winter is an accomplished huntress, who might even be as good as uncle Qrow. Considering those two know each other, then Weiss' sister should be able to see through any move invented by her uncle. Ruby's problem is that the training under her uncle made her something of a Qrow-lite, as there are no other scythe users Ruby could've learned from.

The only other scythe user she knows is a fighting game character. Her uncle warned her that video games are not created by huntsmen, and any moves in those are likely terrible to replicate in real life. Ruby agrees that it's the truth, those moves are bad. And precisely that is why Winter will never expect it if Ruby uses one!

Ruby holds her scythe in a single-handed roof guard, surprising Winter with a stance that Qrow never uses. In that confusion, she strikes with a mighty swing.

Winter, behold the most powerful move to have ever grazed fighting game history! A tornado of scythy death, with a reach that covers way too far for a 2D fighting game! Ruby performs the whirling strike magnificently, shouting out the move's name:

"Grim Reaper!"

Winter sidesteps the attack with ease. How did she-O, right: the real world has three dimensions. Ruby did not think the attack through, and Winter's thoughts on the idea are spoken out loud:

"Foolish!" A single kick sends Ruby flying into the entrance, crashing loudly against the wall. She stands up with a stagger, setting a few steps before crouching in pain.

Oww… that single hit took out a quarter of Ruby's aura, leaving her below forty percent of her remaining aura. If this continues she won't be able to buy any time for her team, let alone being able to stay in fighting condition.

Winter walks with a calm but alert pace to her enemy, all the while lecturing the red reaper on her mistakes. "Your attempt at defeating me is unsatisfactory. You try to take on a graduated huntress who is further enhanced by Atlas military training. If the four of you decided to take me on you would most likely still lose. Yet you make the decision to fight me alone. If that isn't foolishness beyond compare, I do not know what is."

"Yeah, I know." With a groan Ruby stands up, Crescent Rose aimed at her opponent. "I won't stand a chance against you. Now, if we were to fight, I would not win under any circumstance. However, I do not need to defeat you. Penny, Ciel, Weiss… I need them to reach the academy."

"A martyr, then." In an instant several shards of ice flow from a glyph behind Winter, with three of them striking Ruby right in her torso. The air is struck out of Ruby's lungs as she flies backwards into one of the houses on the perimeter of the city. "You fail to understand martyrdom. Sacrifices should have meaning. When I knock you out and take you away, your partner will fail the initiation as well. Furthermore, I ensure you that the other two will be heavily punished for leaving a comrade-in-arms to die. It's not a worst-case scenario to assume that none of you four will become huntresses. This sacrifice of yours was senseless."

"Perhaps…" Using Crescent Rose as a crutch Ruby stands up. If this was a tournament fight she would be considered out of the fight. Her remaining aura is at around 20%, meaning that a next hit would likely force her to quit. Still, the fire in Ruby's eyes is not yet gone. In fact, Ruby is almost laughing. "…but I'm not planning on sacrificing myself here. You see, you outclass me in pretty much everything. But I think that I possess one skill in which I outdo you. If I manage to make the battle focus on that aspect then I might be able to win."

Winter watches with wary eyes, not believing what the scythe wielder says. "And what do you purport that this 'superior skill' of yours is?" If she can make such a claim, then she needs to put her money where her mouth is!

Ruby is planning exactly that. With a loud laugh she declares her single move towards victory: "Of course, a skill so amazing that not even my teacher Qrow has fully mastered it… it's running away!" In a flash of rose petals Ruby disappears, leaving Winter perplexed.

Did she-did that red reaper just… run?

"Clever girl…" Winter can only admire this tactic. Knowing when to run away from a hopeless battle is a useful skill to have. Any other evaluator would probably give passing grades for this tactic.

"…not clever enough." But not Winter. If this girl is likely to be in a team with her own sister, then the entire team needs to show excellence beyond the capabilities of the average first-year student. Her mission here isn't over yet!

With a flick of her rapier Winter summons a time glyph underneath herself. As the world slows down around Winter she speeds up into Mantle, hoping to catch the four soon-to-be huntresses.

Meanwhile, further inside Mantle, there are three huntresses in training fleeing from Winter. It's a good thing they have Ciel at their side, her semblance giving them the quickest directions to the SDC transport center. Where would they be without her?

"Will friend Ruby be okay?" Penny is worried for her friend, but Weiss assuages her fears:

"Have some trust in my partner, Penny. While Winter may be fast, and even faster if she uses time dilation, I have seen Ruby's speed. If she races straight to the transportation center she should easily be able to keep my sister behind her."

Penny notices something off about that statement. Ruby going straight to the SDC center? "Friend Ruby was unable to find her way inside the academy yesterday. Do we estimate that she's capable of finding a location that she has never been to in her life?"

Hold on, what?

Penny's remark causes a sudden stop in Weiss, who starts to fear for the worst. "Ruby, you dolt!" There's no way that Ruby knows how to get back by herself! She'll indubitably get lost and caught by Winter! Ruby, your plan completely botched!

Weiss orders everyone to stop their run, to rethink their possibilities. The trio land in a local plaza, the gathering place of the neighbourhood. Some shops lie at the fringes of the place, though it's not that busy at the moment. For Mantle standards these western parts are relatively clean and well-off, especially compared to the slums located in the eastern crater.

Quickly Weiss orders the group to turn back, to find Ruby and fight Winter off. It gets shot down by Penny and Ciel, who each have their own problems with the plan. Ciel points out that they have no idea where Ruby is supposed to be, while according to Penny the power difference between them and Winter still stands.

In other words, they cannot find Ruby nor fight Winter. What follows from that is that they need to draw Ruby to them, and make sure Winter can't fight them. It doesn't take Weiss long to logically walk her way to the solution:

"In that case I suggest we cause a large commotion that will attract people from afar. We gather a large crowd in this place and get Ruby in the masses. Winter is an army member above all, and she's not allowed to attack civilians."

Weiss plan is solid, but the other two still see some major problems with the idea. Though they both word it differently, but what they mean is about the same:

With the low density of people at this location, there isn't a large enough group at any one place that can be called a crowd. Furthermore, this is Mantle. Compared to Atlas the Schnee are not quite as popular down here in Mantle.

"Hmph. I am Weiss Schnee. I make the crowds. And we Schnees are still quite popular in the richer parts of Mantle." Of course, Weiss became a huntress to show off that she can stand on her own. If she went to Beacon, she wouldn't accept help from anyone. But this isn't Beacon, where Weiss would stand all alone in a new world. This is the kingdom of Atlas, and there is nothing wrong with using the resources her home has to offer.

With a flick of her scroll Weiss sends out a simple message over the internet. What a surprise it will be for the large group of fans Weiss still has here in Mantle that their singing idol will hold a sudden impromptu concert. Surely that will attract enough people for a crowd, right?

"There we go." Weiss puts her scroll back into her pocket, preparing herself for the final concert of her pre-huntress era. "I'm pretty sure my fanbase here in North-West Mantle is large enough to bring people together."

"No microphone, no instruments, no speakers, no set-up;" Ciel points out the problems in Weiss plan, that is now already met with expectations that might make it unfeasible. "I do not understand how you plan to create a stage."

Weiss points towards one of the buildings on the opposite site of the plaza, where a store named "Hamelin's Instruments" is currently open for business. Ciel and Penny look back at Weiss, who is now holding a Schnee credit card in her hands.

Ugh… Ciel facepalms in annoyance at the idea. "How many rules of initiation are we going to break today?"

Weiss scoffs at that problem. "I'm just using the resources I have to my advantage."

Ciel rolls her eyes at the heiress' words but drops the subject. They've got better things to do, after all. The trio enter the store, where they are greeted by the owner, a tall guy dressed in pied clothes: "Welcome to my instrument store. How can Hamelin help y-Weiss Schnee?"

"The one and only, yes. I was wondering whether it is possible to rent equipment for an impromptu performance out there on the square?"

"You're going to give a concert?" Hamelin looks surprised at the notion, unable to believe what he is hearing. "Out there? Now?" Weiss nods at both, causing the store owner to look funnily at the heiress.

"Of course, money is not an is-"

"That's amazing!" The sudden outburst of the owner takes everyone by surprise. "The Weiss Schnee, singing on the plaza in front of my store! I'm a huge fan of your songs, I've got all your songs on disc! I would be happy to help set up this concert, can I call my friends for this?"

That went much better than expected. Who is Weiss to not fulfil the happiness of her fans? "Of course, the larger the crowd the better."

Hamelin eagerly does as told. Quickly he texts all his friends, but Weiss does need to make one more important question: "How long do you need to set up the bare essentials?"

"If you just need a piano and a microphone like usual, then it's set up in a minute. Though… I do not know what your friends play." Hamelin points at the duo who haven't said a word since entering the store. "Ehm, I don't want to sound rude, but am I supposed to know them?"

Weiss assures the storekeeper that the others are not famous in showbusiness. However, he did bring up a good point, what are the musical capabilities of these two? "Can any of you two play an instrument? The piano, guitar, anything's fine, really."

Ciel admits that she has no musical qualities, so Weiss gives her the job of fetching Ruby when she passes by. Penny on the other hand gives a different answer than her partner:

The redhead walks over to the other side of the store, where she sees instruments more befitting her qualities and skills. "I'm activating protocol P3N-3, Ciel."

Penny steps behind the turntables, activating the power. The plate on the table is a classic song with a backbeat, so Penny adjust her plan and starts some seriously smooth plays.

Weiss and Ciel gawk at their teammate, who pulls off the sickest beats on the tables. After half a minute she stops with a slick scratch, getting stares from the huntresses and a small applause from the storekeeper.

"Wha…" Weiss blinks a few times, unable to believe what she sees. "Penny, what was that?"

"Do not worry, Weiss. I am DJ ready!"

Back to Ruby, who found out that her attempt at escape did not go as well as planned. Winter did not only manage to catch up with her, she appears to have gotten even faster than the red reaper herself. Outspeeding a speed semblance without using one yourself is completely broken, if you ask Ruby.

Worst of all, Ruby is still hopelessly lost in this part of Mantle. There's no clear sign of where she needs to go, as a lot of the buildings are stupidly tall. All of the city looks the same to her, it's all dark and gloomy. It's been minutes since the chase started, and it will continue for several minutes more.

Weaving her way through rooftops and alleyways she seeks to shake off her pursuer but fails miserably. Step by step Winter catches up, as Ruby gets tired from the overuse of her semblance at low aura levels.

Crap, at this rate she will neverreach her goal! Sorry Weiss, but the plan failed. Looks like this is the end of Ruby's huntress career…

" _Mirror mirror, tell me something: Can I stop my fall?"_

In the near distance music can be heard. A combination of piano and synth, with a songstress that has a voice very similar to Weiss.

" _Years of scorn will leave you cold. Forget your dreams, do what you're told."_

Scratch that, it is Weiss! When Ruby reaches the plaza from which the sound originates, she can see what is going on down there: There on the elevated part to the west is Weiss, playing on a piano while singing the beautiful song into a microphone. Penny is behind her, working a DJ table to provide the supporting synth instrumentals. In front of them is an audience of two hundred people, all closely listening to the performance and silently enjoying the song.

" _When disapproval's all you're shown. The safest place becomes alone."_

Ruby spends a small second in shock, unable to believe what she's seeing. It's a moment that seems so surreal for an initiation that it leaves her wide open, a chance that Winter takes. A single stab should be enough to take down Qrow's niece.

Ruby looks back at Winter. She's raising her weapon in reflex, but she's not fast enough.

" _And isolation's the price you pay. And every friendship is pushed away."_

A gloved fist redirects the sabre's path, followed by an open palm that forces Winter to jump back. Ruby looks at her saviour, surprised to see a familiar face:

"Ciel!"

Penny's partner doesn't take the time for greetings, instead ordering Ruby around according to Weiss' plans: "Ruby, we need to go into the crowd, now!"

Ruby does as told and the two jump out of the alleyway and into the plaza, within the group of listeners to Weiss' song.

" _But bit by bit now, a step each day. I'm slowly starting to find my way."_

"Uhm, Ciel?" Ruby whispers into her friend's ear, not wanting to interrupt the concert: "Why is Weiss singing and Penny… being a DJ?" It's especially the latter that doesn't make sense, but everything about this seems rather wrong.

"This concert will gather a crowd. When this impromptu concert is over we use them as a shield against Winter and have them guide us to the SDC transport center."

Ruby understands it… somewhat. Using others as hostages is not really her way, but if the people don't have a problem with being used then nobody is going to complain.

" _Some believe in fairy stories, and the ghosts that they can't see."_

Winter looks down at the scene, the plan concocted by her younger sister. As Winter is a soldier, it is her duty not to hurt the citizens of this kingdom. Using her talents and her name Weiss managed to attract a crowd that Winter cannot attack. As long as the huntresses stay in the crowd the specialist is not allowed to attack them.

" _I know that I could do so much, if I could just believe in me."_

But Weiss, did you forget? The world is cruel, cold and does not care about justice. The White Fang will gladly kill innocents if it means a Schnee dies; A grimm would slaughter the innocents first before taking a hand at you. A bad person isn't scared off from your tactics. Then, to show that, Winter might need to turn into the bad guy herself.

" _Mirror mirror, I'll tell you something. I think I might change it all!"_

Winter has heard the song often enough to know that Weiss just sung her last line. Good. Now that the fans have had their fill, it's time for Winter to make sure that this farce of a concert doesn't continue. Now, how to interrupt…

Beowolves? Nah, too easy for those four. Same goes for creeps, ursa and nevermores, these four should easily be able to handle that.

A manticore? Okay, that might be too difficult. Honestly, even a team of graduated huntsmen would be troubled with such a beast, and Winter doesn't want to give a challenge that the average huntsmen group cannot take.

Now, as for griffons… that might be perfect. Strong, but not too strong. A large glyph appears next to Winter, as two white griffon grimm with blue eyes respond to their summoner's command, with more following suit.

The specialist sic the pair onto the crowd, both letting out loud screams that do not go unnoticed by the people. The crowd looks in fear and does what it usually does upon meeting grimm:

Run.

Everyone scatters, heading off in random directions to not get caught by the grimm. One of the griffons descends upon Weiss, who during the performance was not wielding her rapier. With her weapon lying further in the back she has no way to save herself.

Ruby tries to get to her partner, but the fleeing humans are in the way. Unable to push them aside the red huntress is too busy with not getting swept up in the crowd to help.

The grimm leaps at Weiss, who can only reflexively put her arms in front of her as a last defense. Ruby isn't fast enough to stop it; Ciel isn't fast enough to stop it; Even Penny needs time to draw her weapons and isn't fast enough to stop it.

"Weiss!"

…

Huh?

Weiss is unharmed. The griffon was cut in two, but it wasn't Penny who saved the heiress. Standing next to Ruby's partner is a redheaded man, wielding a greatsword made from red dust. Now that Ruby takes a closer look the guy stood a bit in front of Ruby during the concert. So, Weiss song is also popular with huntsmen?

Ruby looks around and sees that he is not the only other huntsmen here. Close to the front is a girl with Cyan hair and a cyan-purplish outfit, shooting griffons out of the air with what Ruby recognizes as a bladed compound sniper bow. Another girl with violet hair and a witchy outfit wielding an arc fire shot glaive, using the glaive form to slam into the cranium of one of the griffons. There's also a blonde guy who reminds Ruby a bit of her sister, given his cocky look and his wrist holstered dagger talons indicating he's a brawler. The blonde comes running at Ruby, checking out the girl who just drew her scythe.

"Hey brat, get out of here."

"Brat?" Is he-no way… "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, you! The other brats already fled, so-"

"I'm not a brat!" How dares he call her that! Ruby is a healthy, still developing women who will grow tall and mature by drinking milk! "Take it back, take it back!"

"Right… anyway, get out of here, kid. Griffons aren't grimm that a preparatory school student should take on. Me and my friends there are team SLVR, of Atlas. Flee while we take care of these white grimm. What the hell are those, anyway?"

Ruby would like to object, say that she's a freshwoman of beacon. However, there's something far better that she can do. Ruby sees a chance here for their team to reach Atlas academy with minimum effort. Speaking loud enough that everyone in the area can hear it she explains what is going on: "Ah! It's Weiss Schnee's evil older sister, who has gone crazy because she's jealous of Weiss' amazing singing voice, using her semblance to create these white grimm! If only there was a hero out there to protect our idol!"

"Hey!" both Schnee sisters shout at this lie, angered that Ruby just demeaned Winter's reputation like that. However, it did have the result that Ruby was going for. The other four huntsmen look rather pissed off that they don't get to listen to Weiss. They just had a free day thanks to the teachers being too busy with freshmen initiation, and now this specialist had to come and ruin the fun!

"Winter Schnee, we won't let you interrupt your sister's concert anymore!" The upperclass huntsmen attack the Atlesian specialist as one. While Winter's skill is still better than that of her opponents and she has her family's semblance, she is still far in the minority. Taking them all out will take time.

Time that the huntresses in training can use very well to escape. The listeners probably don't mind if the concert gets semi-cancelled by terroristic sisters, right? Most of them already fled the scene from the white grimm invasion, so the huntress party can leave too, right?

Fleeing through the streets of Mantle the quartet does its best to set distance between themselves and the specialist, hoping that Winter is distracted long enough by the huntsmen. With Ciel giving directions the group manage to move towards the academy without getting lost.

"Looks like we managed to shake off your sister, partner!"

Ruby's wide grin does not go unnoticed by Weiss, who scoffs at it. "Yes, thanks to your wondrous idea my sister's reputation is ruined! Ugh, to think that my family name gets drenched through the mud like that!"

Perhaps Winter might be in trouble, but Ciel points out the one important truth: "Weiss, your sister is a non-issue now." The four of them aren't followed anymore, having obtained their freedom by making others fight for them.

It's a victory they'll accept.

With Winter out of the way there are no obstacles left that block the goal of the initiation. The quartet reach the distribution center without problems. Weiss manages to se her status to hitch a ride back to Atlas, and they reach the academy without problems. As they enter the front of the academy grounds Ruby meets a familiar person she saw yesterday, his mechanical quadruped wheelchair easily sticking out. Upon seeing the group of four his face fills with joy, as his legchair moves towards the group while he holds his hands outwards, and Penny does the same.

"Penny!"

"Father!"

Father and daughter hug each other in happiness, even though the force with which Penny hugs causes the legchair to skid several yards backwards. They don't care that they're displaying such affection out in public. No, they are just very happy to see each other again.

"Penny, my dear, look at you, completing the initiation like a professional! Oh, how proud I am of you!"

"Of course, father! I had a phenomenal time returning to Atlas from out in the wilderness. However, I couldn't have done it without the others."

"Yes, yes, others." Penny's father dusts off the snow from his lab coat, before turning towards the three girls watching their friend bond with her father. "Penny, you have to introduce me to your friends here. I know about Ruby, and who are the other two?"

"Of course, father!" Penny walks next to Ruby, introducing her to her father. You know my friend Ruby, and this is her partner Weiss Schnee."

Weiss bows politely and introduces herself formally, while Ruby takes a more casual approach waves at the old man. Like a gentleman he replies to both in the appropriate manner, giving a mannered nod to Weiss before returning a small wave at the girl in red.

Penny walks over to Ciel next and introduces her as well: "And this is my partner here at Atlas academy, Ciel Soleil."

"Well met." Ciel introduces herself as well, before turning over to Penny while continuously tapping her watch. "Penny, don't forget we still have to announce our arrival. We don't have time to talk with your father right now."

"Hoho, do not worry about that, Ciel." Penny's father takes out his scroll and shows off his ID. It notifies him as Pietro Polendina, teacher for physics and metallurgy studies at Atlas Academy. "Luckily for you I am perfectly capable of notifying the board whenever a pair of students finishes initiation. Considering that you four have entered academy grounds, I'm perfectly willing to pass you four for this assessment."

Pietro returns focus to his scroll, trying to find the right files that allow him to fulfil his duty as teacher. "All right, so, section D…" Pietro swipes past a few screens, looking for the right people to grade on his scroll. "Let's see… ah! Pair one, Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil, as well as pair five, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee. Okay, you four have now officially completed your initiation. Congratulations!"

"Woohoo! We did it!" Ruby loudly cheers in joy, joined by Penny in loudness. Their partners don't celebrate their success that overtly, but both of them are glad that the tension of initiation can finally be dropped. The rumbling of Ruby's tummy slightly interrupts the happy festivities, as hunger starts to spread amongst the group. According to Ciel it is almost half past one, meaning that it's time for everyone to grab some lunch!

During lunch the group split up in three: Penny joined her father to tell him all about the initiation, Ciel saw her brother and his new partner and joined up with them, while Ruby and Weiss simply grabbed a quick bite before the team introduction. Food was eaten in relative silence, and the duo went towards the auditorium.

They arrived to a well-filled auditorium, with both students and non-students interested in who are going to be Remnant's new defenders of hope and peace. Ruby and Weiss found Ciel and Penny sitting somewhere in the middle, next to Otto and a guy Ruby recognized from the ship, if only by that easily recognizable red spear-sword at his hip. Considering how he's talking to Otto he must be his partner.

With no spots free next to their friends Ruby and Weiss take the seats one row behind. Just as they take their seats Ironwood walks onto the podium, where he begins his speech for the team introduction.

Ruby listens intently to the speech… for about two minutes, after which she starts to get bored. Even when the speech is done and the teams are introduced it starts with the people who were called on first, way before the people from Ruby's section. After a gruelling long time of general Ironwood introducing people that Ruby doesn't know it is finally time for the students of section D to be introduced:

"Elvio Jayhouse, Marlin Kingston, Jacin Michaelis and Dylan Zimmers." It's the bully team that is the first of Ruby's section to come up, all four with grins too large for such a serious and formal situation. Ruby feels uncomfortable looking at them, and Weiss lets out a low growl. General Ironwood seems to ignore their confident attitude, and keeps on talking:

"The four of you managed to smash through an Atlesian platoon of androids, allowing you to leisurely walk towards the finish of your initiation." The screen behind them rearranges the faces of the students, showing off their team initials of JZME. "From this day forward, you will be known as team Jasmine, led by Jacin Michaelis!"

Several snickers come from inside the grand hall, including the little laugh made by Ruby. Four burly men joined together get the very girly team name Jasmine? Sorry, but that's just too funny to pass up. At least it should make their bullying attempts less effective.

It takes the team leader all his strength and wits to ensure that his partner doesn't smack the general, because he isn't happy that he lost both his leadership and his reputation with one sentence. Team JZME almost has to be dragged off the stage, much to the amusement of those who know Elvio's bad habits.

"Robin Bates, Ace Byre, Gaia Greene and Laura Wolff." Hey, it's Robin's turn! Considering how the four of them help each other up and are walking together it's clear that they already bonded together during this initiation. "The four of you managed to clear the landing spot for the bullhead, eliminating a giant nevermore in the process."

The teamname is spells out behind them, RGAL. It's the first one thus far where Ruby doesn't immediately get what the team name stands for. "From today forth the four of you are known as team Regal, led by Robin Bates!"

Robin looks with surprise, slightly blushing at his newfound leadership. From the looks of it he's the only team member who did not expect him to obtain the job. Ruby is happy that her friend is team leader, but there is one question left nagging in her mind that she needs answered. And who better to answer her question than her partner Weiss "know-it-all" Schnee?

"Hey Weiss, since when is Regal a colour?"

Weiss rolls her eyes at Ruby not knowing this information, but then realizes that she doesn't either. Her mind blanks as well, requiring Penny to turn around and explain:

"Regal: A shade of purple used in the past by royalty for their clothes to indicate their noble heritage. Does this answer your question, friend Ruby?"

Ah, okay, that's clear. It makes sense that Ruby didn't know that, considering that she's a country bumpkin from Patch. Though, shouldn't someone born in high society like Weiss have known what Regal is? With a mischievous smile she turns to Weiss, who looks away in embarrassment.

"S-Shut up! I am not perfect yet, but I'm still closer to achieving it then you are."

Sure you are, Weiss. With a small giggle Ruby turns back to the podium, where general Ironwood is announcing the next team:

"Tidus Andronicus, Romy Julie, Cordelia Leir and Otto Moore." A small smile crept up on Ciel's face, as she sees her half-brother go up the stage as part of a team. The screen behind the four students does its magic once more, rearranging the first letters of their names to spell out CROT. "The four of you arrived together at the Atlesian airbus after taking out a Beringel together. You will now be known as team Carrot, led by Cordelia Leir!"

On stage Cordelia gets a hug from her partner, while Otto and Tidus look at their new team leader with high expectations. The team leaves the stage, and considering that there are only four people left of the section Ruby is already standing up for the introduction of her team:

"Penny Polendina, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Ciel Soleil." The girls walk up to the podium, waiting for the general's speech to finish. "The four of you have successfully broken through the Atlas border guard and sneaked back into the city. From this day forth, you'll be known as team Scorpio, led by Weiss Schnee!"

Weiss holds her head high, having expected nothing less, but finds herself fumbling a bit when she gets simultaneously hugged in congratulations by her partner and Penny. Only Ciel looks with suspicion at the new leader, uncertain whether this was the best choice for team SCRP.

* * *

"What do you guys mean, let's not get into this fight?" Yang cannot believe the apathy with which her future teammates reply. Not fight? There is a giant grimm out there trying to make mincemeat out of four other students! Why would anyone not want to fight that monster?

"We're not here to fight grimm." Vernal's answer is cold and calculated, having taken everything into consideration. "Remember the objective? Find a partner, grab a relic, and get back to the cliff. Ozpin never mentioned anything about exterminating grimm."

"And leave those four to die against the deathstalker? We can't flee like cowards at the expense of others!"

That struck a chord with the black knights. Leaving others to die on them is bad conduct for a huntress, a mark of shame that will last for their entire student life and be a great hinder to any future plans they might have. They cannot in good conscience leave four others to die here.

"I can create a smokescreen." Blake duly points out, holding out a cartridge with violet smoke dust. "I create a distraction, we grab the other students and flee towards the rendezvous point."

"Sounds solid to me." Vernal is quick to agree with Blake's plan, and Ilia obviously has the utmost trust in her friend. The only one still in disagreement with the plan is Yang. They're supposed to kill the grimm, not flee from it!

"Hey, we're supposed to be huntresses!" Tired from complaining about the same thing repeatedly she almost orders the others to join in a fight. "It's our duty to slay grimm, so why are trying to run away? C'mon, let's do what a huntress is supposed to do."

Yang takes the first steps but sees everyone else faltering. Nobody is willing to follow the blonde into battle, caring more about their safety than their duty. Yang is ready to let her anger out, force the others into compliance…

…until Vernal takes the word: "Is that the excuse you tell yourself?" Her biting words start to break down Yang's argument completely, every word another nail in the coffin: "I may have only met you for a day, but I can tell you're an action-starved adrenaline junkie. We're not going to fight an elder grimm just because you want to get your kicks."

Yang lets her anger control her once more… but finds the rage quickly quelled by her own reason. After all, Yang can't run from the truth.

"You… yeah, you're not wrong. I want to fight that deathstalker because I think it's fun." Vernal hit the nail on the head. In the end Yang is an adrenaline junkie, only caring about getting new and more thrills. To call her reason for fighting selfish is wholly justified. "However, this is not about what I want, Vernal. This is about what needs to be done. At the moment we have eight students here who should be able to take this grimm down together. If we leave this elder deathstalker alone, it will only become someone else's problem. What if a group of one or two meets this beast, when there's nobody who can help them? It's not about whether we want to slay it or not, it's about doing our duty as huntresses to help out where we can. I cannot make this decision for you three, but I'm going out there and help."

Heh, isn't that what you would say, Ruby? Yang runs off after the four combatants, leaving the remaining three black knights to make the decision for themselves.

"Blake." Ilia looks at her friend, a small, somewhat wicked smile on her face. "Remember: We're not here because we ran away."

Upon realizing that Blake lets the weight of he choice fall from her shoulders. "Yeah. You're right." Nodding to each other, the two partners move to catch up with Yang.

The only one left is Vernal, seriously doubting the mental capacity of her allies. "They're not going to survive long out of the academy. Those damn orders, making me babysit that girl. Hah… I suppose I'm hunting an elder grimm today." And with that Vernal runs after her future teammates, hoping to save them from the giant monster.

Yang is the first to catch up with the remaining huntsmen. She calls out to the only person of the four she personally knows: "Hey bunny boy, what's the strategy?"

Jaune is a bit too busy with not turning into scorpion food to reply to that nickname, blocking another strike from the giant stinger with his shield. Instead he weakly calls out what his plan has been thus far: "H-Hit the soft parts?"

A bit generic, and not the most effective tactic. Still, unless they come up with a better alternative there's no reason not to follow that plan for now.

A explosion-fueled punch on the creature's white armoury bits doesn't so much as cause a crack. Yang jumps back, not sure what she herself can do. The only soft parts are the eyes, and those are too tiny to be smashes by punches. Redhead Nora has the same problem, for as much punch hammers pack the blunt force doesn't pierce through. Discounting Jaune, that leaves the number of effective fighters down to two.

Like a dance Ren circles around the insect, shooting bullets into some of the smaller cervices and scars of the beast, slightly grinding down damage on its weak spots. Pyrrha holds a more conservative point on the front blocking pincers and stingers while making the occasional jab at an insect eye.

"Get down!" The voice of Blake comes as a godsend to Yang, who realizes that her speech was at least somewhat effective. Like deadly nightshade she throws gambol shroud forwards as a chain scythe, hooking the grimm in one of its many eyes before it shoots out, yanking the eyeball with it as it slowly evaporates.

Before the deathstalker can react one of the small holes to its side gets pierced by Ilia's Lightning Lash, who appeared like a ninja to strike at this beast. On the other side Vernal opts for the same strategy as Ren, peppering the grimm with bullets from Sun Shang and Sun Xiang.

Eight huntsmen in training have come together, all united in their desire to take down an elder grimm. Yeah, the group now has a fighting chance!

Unfortunately, the deathstalker has the same realization. Letting out a primal cry the insect suddenly charges sideward with great momentum. In its path now are Ren and Ilia, who without the precognition to anticipate this sudden move are flung away like ragdolls.

Jaune, realizing that he's the lowest contributor to the fight, moves towards the fallen allies while the remainders keep the monster busy. However, the only thing he sees is dire.

"Ehm, guys?" Jaune, please, don't make the situation worse than it is. "There's enemies behind us!"

Yang takes a quick look back, where out of the fringe of the forest a pack of beowolves appear, led by the destruction and negative enemy of the fight with the deathstalker. Great, can today get even worse?

…

Considering it didn't start raining all of a sudden, apparently not. Yang turns back to the deathstalker, being a bit too preoccupied with the elder grimm to focus on the threat of beowolves. Let the others decide how to deal with them, Yang got giant beasties to punch.

To the surprise of many it is Jaune who takes up responsibility and leads the divisionary forces. He sees the forces close to him, somewhat battered but still capable of fighting. "Ren and, ehm, brown ponytail girl. Let's keep those beowolves busy."

Ren gives a nod in affirmation, while Ilia annoyedly explains what her name is. Crocea Mors is aimed at the leader of the beowolves, and with a yell its wielder charges at the enemy, closely followed by Ren and Ilia.

Like the gentle stream of a river Ren flows through the pack, Stormflower spraying death amongst the creatures of grimm. Those that survive find themselves treated with a nice and deadly acupuncture, courtesy of Ilia's Lightning Lash. As for Jaune…

…well, he's managed to stall the stragglers for long enough that one of the other two can take care of it. And look on the bright side, he's not dead yet! That's something going for him, right?

With those three focusing down the beowolves, the other five can freely take care of the deathstalker. The only question is… how? Sure, Jaune was basically a dead weight, but with Ilia and Ren gone the group has lost the members best suited to precisely striking at the weaker spots of the deathstalker's carapace. They need a new plan, and fast.

"Anyone got a better idea?" Yang shouts out, hoping for someone else to come with the plan. She doesn't really have much more in her repertoire other than hitting stuff and hitting it harder, and that doesn't work here.

"Flip it on its back!" Vernal shouts out, having some experience with younger deathstalkers from her time in Mistral. "It's got no armor around its belly!"

Okay, that sounds logical. Flip it over, and then cut it down. Yang likes the simplicity of the idea, and as the strongwomen of the fighters she sees it as her duty to get the monster on its back.

Ducking under a pincher she jumps over the entire body of the insect, catching the deathstalker at its tail. Standing down on the ground with tail in hand she lifts the deathstalker with a mighty grunt. Or at least tries to, as the grimm doesn't give an inch.

Okay, how much does this grimm weigh? It's got to be at least a few tonnes! How the hell does something that dissipates into nothingness have so much mass?

Yang keeps trying to lift this thing off the ground, but it's just too damn heavy. With a final grunt she manages to at least lift the tail. It's a start, though Yang wonders why her feet can't feel the ground anymore.

Looking down Yang sees that she's the one lifted by the beast, instead of the other way around.

Uh oh, this isn't good.

The tail of the scorpion painfully smacks Yang against the ground, taking a dip out of her aura before it sends the blonde flying all the way through the clearing. After several seconds she crashes through a tree, the wood splintering from the force.

Okay, slightly painful hit. Yang's still feeling a bit doozy from crashing into a tree, but at least her semblance is raring to go. With just pumping the fists together as a trigger the yellow beauty burns-

Gold…

In front of Yang a lock of golden hair drops to the ground. There are two blondes in the surroundings, and one of them is way back with the beowolves, leaving only one possible source for this lock of hair.

Conclusion: It's time to put the death in deathstalker. With a primal roar Yang lunges at the grimm, semblance working in overdrive as her hair blazes with golden flames. Blow after blow strikes the insect grimm, the other four attackers standing dazed for a second as they gawk at their ally's sudden offense. Realizing that they shouldn't leave it all to the angry berserker the quartet renew their attacks, spraying the monster in a stream of attacks.

With Yang as the spearhead the quintet manage to deliver blow after blow on the beast, creating an onslaught that force the deathstalker on the defensive. From bullets to slashes to explosions; it all connects, cracking a little bit of armour here and striking flesh there. Even so the deathstalker survives and stands proud, returning attacks at the humans who dare to face it.

The group is stuck in a stalemate, where neither side manages to deal grievous blows on the enemy. They need a way to break through, and Yang might just be what they need:

With a mighty uppercut Yang strikes the head of the insect, causing it to be lifted slightly into the air as it jumps back. Yang's strength has grown enormously, almost enough to lift the deathstalker. She's strong, but they need even more power to force this deathstalker to show its weak spot. More power is needed, and it cannot come just from one person.

Blake realizes this and knows that Yang needs an outside power boost. However, her own abilities won't suffice for the task. "Anybody else got some form of super-strength semblance?"

"Ooh, I do!" Nora loudly proclaims as she swings Magnhild at the scorpion's face, temporarily dazing the monster. Nora falls back next to Blake, explaining just how her semblance works. "You see, like, two months ago, Ren and I were surrounded by fifty evil ursa. By the blessings of the gods lightning struck on me, and I became super-Nora! I grabbed a nearby goliath and used it as a weapon to strike down all seventy grimm!"

"Five ursa, a faulty lightning dust crystal broke, and you grabbed an ursa!" Ren shouts as Stormflower cuts through another beowolf, correcting the tall tale of his childhood friend. Still, even if reality is not as impressive as Nora's imagination, it will still do.

"But yeah, I just need to be struck with lightning and blammo, super-Nora appears!"

"That can be arranged." Two beams of electricity burst from the barrel of Sun Xiang, striking Nora with the power of thousands of volts. Nora lets out a scream of pain, but it quickly changes into laughter. Like a mad witch she cackles, her strength rising and rising.

"Oh… Ohohoh. I. feel. amazing! Yes, I have become death, destroyer of worlds and pancakes! Grimm, it's clobbering time!"

Nora jumps at the scorpion at the same time as the other superpowered warrior, gauntlet and hammer striking simultaneously. Empowered by semblance and explosions, the hit is strong enough to force the deathstalker back five feet. Noticing the sudden shift in power output between the two bruisers Yang decides that it's time to take Vernal's advice to heart.

Jumping towards the beast she grabs the right pincer, tightly holding the two scissor blades together so the deathstalker can't utilize it as a weapon. The huntress turns to her fellow empowered warrior, who is eager to try out whatever plan Yang has in store for her.

"Nora, grab the other claw and flip 'r up!" Nora does as told and grabs the left pincer, while Yang keeps a tight hold of the right. Both try to lift the monster, who does not like this idea. All six of its legs firmly grasp ground as it positions itself into an unmovable position. So long as it stays focused on the task even the power of these two huntresses won't be enough to lift it up!

With both pincers grabbed the front of the beast is left wide open, something the three remaining huntresses take advantage of. Blake and Vernal shoot a hail of bullets, peppering the face of the beast with covering fire. Most bullets bounce of the thick armour, but a few lucky shots manage to hit the soft flesh of the eyes. The beast screams in agony, but its focus remains with the two who grabbed its own weapons. A quick stab through their stomach with the stinger should be enough to kill at least one of the-

The beast's thoughts are interrupted by the sudden strike of a shield against its cranium. Whether through luck or through knowledge the round piece of metal struck one of the thinner parts of the armor, its blunt force stunned the beast for the slightest of moments.

For the two bruisers, that moment is just enough. The front legs of the deathstalker are lifted into the air, quickly followed by the middle legs. When its concentration returned only two legs remained on the floor. Quickly the beast tries to regain its grip, but it will not be enough to save it. With a loud yell Yang and Nora lift the grimm completely into the air, followed by smashing the scorpion on its back, a sickening crunch indicating that they probably broke several pieces of its body.

The deathstalker has lived a long, long life, having been active since the days before the great war. Its youth was characterized by anger and rage, still a young and mindless beast. As it grew older and wiser it learned new emotions: The joy of killing, the glee of a successful bait, even the relief of a narrow victory against huntsmen; The deathstalker developed a broad spectrum of emotion, but one was missing until now:

It feels fear.

In panic it tries to wriggle itself back up, but with two empowered huntresses holding down the pincers it would have more success launching himself to the moon. The beast itself is not the only one who notices his peril. Blake and Pyrrha look at each other, as it's time to deliver the final move.

Blake jumps onto the amazoness' shield, who launches the cat faunus in the air with a small unseen burst of her semblance. Blake hangs high in the air, switching Gambol Shroud to its chain scythe form. At the summit of her jump Blake starts to spin her body in the air, gaining momentum for the scythe at the end of the ribbon. Faster and faster the weapon goes, turning into a wheel of destruction. Like a sawblade cutting through a log so does Gambol Shroud cleave through the grimm, cutting the deathstalker in two from head to tail.

Blake gracefully lands in between the split parts of the scorpion. The dead body around her is disintegrating into black plumes of smoke, the last token of proof that this elder grimm even existed. The beowolves don't stop attacking with the death of their leader, but whatever remained lost focus and are easily dispatched by Ren, Ilia and to some extent Jaune.

With no more grimm around the eight students they look at each other, smiles creeping up most of their faces. They did it. They just slew an elder grimm!

The eight made their way back to the starting cliff without much trouble. Other than some beowolves and two ursa they met no resistance. If the layout of the Emerald Forest was a bit more orderly Yang would've considered it a literal walk in the park.

Up at the cliff the group is met with professor Ozpin and deputy head Goodwitch. All four pairs deliver their chess pieces, leaving the teachers with two white rook pieces and two black knight pieces. Ozpin congratulates the students on passing the test, but his face looks sombre. A quick glance to the side tells that miss Goodwitch suffers from the same dark expression, mixed with a hint of irritation.

The students are invited to return to the auditorium so they can rest, clean up and eat a bit. The only exception is Yang, who needs to make a small clarification to the headmaster.

Everyone leaves, including the future teammates and her partner. Yang waves them goodbye and turns to the head of Beacon. "So, what'cha need from me? Did I set a new distance record or so?"

"Well, I must admit that the distance you covered during the flight was spectacular. From the top of my head I can only name two people who covered larger distances, one of which is your uncle, Qrow Branwen."

"Wait, uncle Qrow?" He managed to at least almost set a distance record? How did that happen?

"Indeed, him. For some reason the plate he was standing on malfunctioned, giving him almost thrice the boost that other students had." Ozpin still hasn't figured out whether that was an oversight of his own professors or an early manifestation of his semblance. It's a mystery that will likely never be solved. "But let us go to the real issue at hand. Miss Yang Xiao-Long, correct? With initials Y and X, correct?"

"Yes…?" Where is Ozpin going with this? This should be obvious, right?

"So it is not the initials Y, X and L, with the long being a secondary surname?"

"Wasn't it the same with dad, just a T and an X?"

"Yes, it was, though there wasn't the necessity to ask. Then, do you perhaps have any secondary names? In my case, I have Zoroaster as my middle name."

"Nope. I'm just Yang Xiao-Long, nothing more and nothing less." The words are added with a smile, but only seem to offer the headmaster more duress. With the knowledge of that information he dismisses the student, allowing Yang to return to the auditorium.

All in all, that conversation was kind of weird. Wonder why Ozpin specifically asked about that?

Yang returns to the auditorium, where she sees her partner standing next to the entrance door. With a simple "Yo!" she pulls the attention of the short-haired student, who decided to ask why Yang had to stick behind with the headmaster.

Yang honestly can't explain it, so simply tells just what happened.

"Huh. Weird." Even Vernal doesn't know exactly why this happened. "But to be fair, I did not expect Ozpin's second name to be Zoroaster."

"Oh I know, right? Didn't that name die out two hundred years ago?"

Both get a laugh at the headmaster's expense as they enter the auditorium. Taking seats near the middle path they await the start of the introduction ceremony. Just when they expect the teachers to come out and start a message starts beaming over the speakers:

" _To all first-year students: Due to difficulties with the creation of the teams the team introduction is postponed for ten minutes. Please wait silently until the teachers arrive."_

Well, that's unexpected. What kind of problems could there be? They probably have some system in place to pair up the pairs in groups of four. What else is there to do?

" _Bart, my friend, creating a team name with a B, I, V and Y might be my hardest challenge yet. Hoho, it reminds me of that one time I slew two giant nevermores with nothing more than my wits, good looks and a s-"_

The speaker suddenly turns off, as if Goodwitch realized that she should've closed the call several seconds earlier. Yep, that last part didn't sound like it was meant to be heard by the students. Still, it does tell Yang and Vernal enough to make their own speculation.

"Hey Vernal. Those B, I, V and Y… Think it stands for Blake, Ilia, Vernal and Yang?" It would explain why Ozpin was suddenly so interested in knowing if Yang had any middle names, the Y and X aren't often occurring letters in the alphabet.

"It's likely." Vernal seems to be lost in thought about the possibilities as well, focusing on one other aspect. "So, what's our team's name going to be?"

Good question. What kind of word can you make with those four letters? Sure, these letters aren't the most common ones around, but a name should still be creatable, right?

"How about we give it a shot?" Perhaps if thought up quickly enough, they can create their own team name, probably a first in Beacon's history! Of course, it must be a bit more interesting for Yang's partner to get her in the mood for such games. Considering how much fun the bets in the forest were, Yang knows a good way to settle this: "Let's give you a chance to make your money back: Twenty lien for the one who comes up with the right team name."

Vernal gives a challenging smile, accepting the bet.

…

…

"Okay, BIYV, Brief. Think you can best that, Vernal?" The duo has been seated in the auditorium for five minutes, wrecking their brains to come up with good names.

"Yang, you want to name our team after male underwear. I don't need to best that considering I still have the better option."

"We can't expel Blake so we can be team Ivy. I'm pretty sure that the teachers here won't let that happen."

"It's the only name that makes sense, Yang. Accept the truth that we'll be a three-woman team. Just watch, it will turn out that Blake's a wanted criminal and is forced to flee the school and leave the others behind."

"Right." Yang rolls her eyes at the thought, a small chuckle escaping her mouth. The two are silent for a while, before Vernal comes up with a new option:

"YVBI, team Jubilee."

"Sorry, but that's not a colour." The name for a period of fifty years is not reminiscent of a colour, so that one loses as well. "But I'll give you props for coming up with that one. It's better than my BVYI, or team Buying."

"If we're going to be named team Buying then I'll expel myself." Yang can't find herself to disagree and promises her partner to do the same in that situation. A minute passes, before Yang has her next idea:

"Wait a second, wasn't Ilia's last name Amitola?" A simple nod from Vernal gives Yang a victorious grin, as she realizes that she might just have pulled the winning name:

"Bam, BAVX! We'll be team Bauxite! Lien, come to mama!"

Vernal has to give it to Yang, that name is good. Yeah, Yang might just win twenty lien here.

The room grows eerily quiet, as the pair is forced to look towards the podium. There in the auditorium is professor Ozpin, accompanied by his second-in-command Goodwitch. She steps forward, telling the audience that the preparations are finished. Team announcements will begin immediately.

Ozpin introduces the teams one by one. Some teams have people from Yang's old friend group, but most of the people are simply strangers that happen to be of the same year as her. Eventually they come up to people that Yang recognized, as she can remember both the big oaf Cardin and pudgy face Dove being there at the relic site. Together with a certain Sky and Russel these four are team Cardinal, led by Cardin.

Next up is the team that Yang knows better, probably the best after her own. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren, or in short team Juniper. What is surprising is that bunny boy was made team leader. Yang would've bet that someone famous like Pyrrha or calm like Ren would be team leader. Now that Yang thinks about it, Jaune did manage to lead Ren and Ilia against those beowolves. Who knows, maybe Ozpin is right and there is some leadership potential within bunny boy.

When JNPR leaves the podium it's time for the collectors of the black knights to step up. Ozpin begins with announcing the names of Yang's team members:

"Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao-Long, Ilia Amitola and Vernal Branwen."

Branwen?

Did… did Ozpin just say Vernal Branwen? As in, the same surname as Raven Branwen, her mother?! Vernal, her partner… is a Branwen?

In desperation Yang looks at her partner, hoping for some sort of confirmation that this is all just a bad thought. A coincidence, just a person who accidentally has the same surname as her mother.

But that smirk with which Vernal is looking at her, a smirk that revels in the disillusioning truth… it's enough. Yang knows enough from that dastardly look she's giving. The words she speaks only serve to further confirm it:

"That's us, Yang. Old man Ozpin is calling Raven's daughters to the stage."

Oh. Ohohohoh. Vernal… you bastard!

Lilac eyes turn red, rage reaching boiling point. "Vernal, give me one good reason not to blow your head off right where you stand?"

"Because there's still a ceremony going on, 'sis'." Oh, the way that last word rolled out of Vernal's mouth, so slimy and dirty, Yang feels grossed out as anger becomes fuming rage. "As Raven would say: 'You want answers, you can get them after the ceremony.'"

Yang tries to shut off her anger but finds herself failing. With red eyes and burning hair she stomps up the podium, drawing an odd eye from the professor. Realizing the mood of his student he quickly finishes this team's introduction.

"You four collected the black knight pieces. Together you will be known as team Vibrant, led by Yang Xiao-Long!"

The audience cheers, and the other pair of team VYBA gives respectful nods to their new team leader, accepting that new pecking order within their team. As for Yang's own opinion on her newfound leadership?

With so many questions left, she does not care at all.

* * *

 **So, when Forum explorer reviewed chapter three, he offered the name Vibrant. For the next twelve hours I couldn't stop thinking about how great that name is, so I kept it. I did change it from VYIB to VYBA, but yeah, thanks. Also thanks to everyone else who came up with ideas for the name!**

 **As for the questions that were asked in the reviews, let's give an answer to those:**

 **WeikWriter:** _ **Will there be any pairings?  
**_ **A difficult question to answer: The focus of this story is to see how Ruby being a student of Atlas changes the whole of Remnant, not the pairings. Furthermore, there's this maxim of writing what you know, and with my romantic experience I'm probably the least suitable person to write pairings. Still, if it fits the story, then I don't see my lack of experience as a reason to say no.**

 **ManticoreBlues:** _ **Will there be any personality/clothing/weapon changes for Ruby?  
**_ **Weapon-wise, Ruby sticks to Crescent Rose. Atlas allows trumpets and glowsticks as weapons, so what's wrong with a high-calibre sniper-scythe?  
Clothing-wise, there's some changes, mainly because the Atlas environment is quite a bit colder. Her key traits (Red cloak, Red riding hood motives) don't change, but the outfit does adapt to the weather, like with padded stockings or a woollen hat. I'm only wondering if she's allowed to wear her cape over the Atlas uniform.  
Personality-wise, it should be obvious that will change. And why just her? How will the Beaconites change without Ruby and Weiss? What's the effect on Penny having an actual team? Isn't that part of the reason you're reading?**

 **If there are more questions, please ask.**


	6. Chapter 1-5

It has been an hour or two after the initiation ceremony, dusk settling in as the street lights turn on. Team Scorpio is walking over the academy grounds, towards their new home.

Compared to Beacon, which was build after most of Vale's major expansion and has enough space behind it with the emerald forest, Atlas Academy was built before the namesake city was created. The city formed around the academy as a result, enclosing the academy from all sides. With Atlas floating in the sky they also can't just build a new academy on the outside of the city, leaving the school itself with preciously little space to build new facilities on. Unable to build wide, the academy was forced build tall.

Very tall.

Atlas academy is less of a building and more of five gigantic towers combined into a single structure. Of the five towers the central tower holds the classrooms, training rooms and staff rooms. The southern tower is dedicated to the research facilities. The eastern tower is dedicated to the graduated huntsmen, with the huntsman briefing room and a few dorm rooms for traveling huntsmen being located here. The northern tower is an extension of the central tower, having the medical facilities and the library and other additional tools for teaching. The tower in the west is where team Scorpio is walking towards, as it is the tower housing the student dorms.

The west tower is the tallest of the four surrounding towers, and it's necessary. With about 500 students spread over the 4 years a large number of dormitories are necessary to house them all. This tower is structure of over thirty floors tall, and one of these rooms is going to be the room for team Scorpio.

The quartet step inside the west tower. They meet with the dorm manager, an elderly man with a kind smile on his face. Weiss holds up the paper that assigns their team to "Room W602", the second room of the sixth floor. Upon looking over the documents Weiss handed to him the old man grabs a set of four keys from under the desk, one for each student. He also points to a door to the right, where the baggage of the first years is stored. SCRP enters the room, searching through a few rows of luggage stacks for their belongings.

Ruby quickly finds what she's looking for: Two large suitcases, one containing several sets of clothes for her stay in Atlas, while the other contains school gear, dust, weapon maintenance gear and other essentials. There's also a backpack with some of her memorabilia and hobby items, just enough that it can barely be carried by a single person in one trip.

Looking back Ruby sees that her teammates have found their luggage as well, each of them holding a different number of backpacks and suitcases:

Penny barely has anything with her. Two backpacks she holds in her hands, one holding her weapons and the other her living essentials.

Ciel is more like Ruby, with the same number of backpacks and suitcases as her red teammate.

And then there's Weiss…

Two, four, eight-okay, why does anyone need a dozen suitcases? She literally requires a cart to pull all of them forward, and of course that is part of her luggage as well! Ruby knew Weiss is rich, but never did she expect it to be presented in such a blatantly obvious manner!

With that kind of weight Scorpio's leader is unable to use the stairs. The four instead use the elevator, and after a short ride the group arrives at the sixth floor:

Their floor of the building, the sixth floor, is the same as all other floors housing student dorms: Each floor has four dorm rooms, Two to the left of the floor and two to the right. On their side are dorms W601 and W602, while the other side houses dorms W603 and W604.

W602. The number that will house Ruby for the next four years. Ruby eggs her partner on to open the door, but a sudden voice from the stairs causes team Scorpio to turn around:

"Hey Ruby!" Walking up the stairs is none other than team Regal, with Robin leading the pack. "You're our neighbors?"

"You guys have room 601?" A quick ringing of the keys confirms that both teams will share the floor with each other. Ruby can barely believe it, not only did she manage to get friends as teammates but also as neighbors! "Oh wow, this is amazing! Right, so I should introduce you to the rest of team Scorpio! Lessee…"

"Good evening." Not wanting to leave a bad first impression by letting Ruby do the introductions Weiss curtsies before team Regal, introducing herself as Weiss Schnee. "I'm the partner of Ruby Rose as well as the team leader of Scorpio. These two behind me are Ciel Soleil and Penny Polendina."

Penny and Ciel say their greetings as well, leaving team Regal to do their part of the introduction. Or at least, they would be were it not for Ruby speaking up for RGAL's side.

"Okay, so this here is Robin Bates, I met him yesterday, oh, and he's really nice! That is Laura, his partner, and… okay, I don't know the other two."

The G and A of RGAL both let out a small chuckle at Ruby's antics, with the girl being the first to step up: "I'm Gaia, the partner of Ace over there."

Appearance-wise Gaia might as well be a complete reversal of Laura. A girl with long blonde hair, and where Laura's outfit is yellow with some lines of black Gaia's outfit is black with lines of yellow. Flashing a cheeky grin, she seems a lot sunnier than the clawed faunus. That girl is still hanging in the back of the team, observing team Scorpio carefully.

"As Gaia said, I'm Ace. Ace Byre, to be precise." The last member of Regal, also the tallest, stands strongly in his black combat uniform. His long brown hair would make him look effeminate were it not for the stubbles growing on his lower face, all in all giving him a somewhat saintly appearance. However, that is not the most striking this about his appearance, as Ruby notes.

"You have a metal arm? Wow, that's so awesome!"

Ace lets out a small chuckle at Ruby's fascination. "An old accident forced me to wear one. I don't like it as much as my normal one, but it got a few nifty features." As he says that the lateral side of the underarm starts to whirr, as steel folds out into a circular shield.

Ruby gawks at the arm and continues to ask more questions, which Ace is happy to provide. Robin laughs a bit, having expected such a response from Ruby upon seeing Ace's arm in action from the moment the two guys met.

There is only one person who hasn't really introduced herself. Both SCRP and RGAL turn to Laura, who is standing quietly to the back. Robin asks his partner to introduce herself to Scorpio, wanting to finish the exchanges so that both teams will get along well with one another. Instead Laura walks up to Ruby, clasping her hands on the red reaper's shoulders.

"I pity you, being forced to join such a team." Laura glares at the rest of team Scorpio, snatching the keys out of Robin's hands and opening the door to team Regal's dormitory. The remaining seven inhabitants of floor six share a look of confusion, not fully processing what Laura just did.

"Wha-I can't believe it!" Weiss, understandably, turns her confusion into lividness. "Who does that girl thinks she is?"

"I believe Laura is not interested in being our friend." Astute observation, Penny. It doesn't help the angry heiress, and the rest just stand around awkwardly.

Robin begins to apologize for Laura sake, but Weiss doesn't accept it until it comes out of the mouth of Laura herself and she explains what her problems are.

With the first meeting between the floor-sharing teams ruined the rest of Regal walk into their apartment, still apologizing and hoping their next meeting goes better.

The Scorpios are standing outside the apartment, Ruby being the first to break the silence:

"So… what are we going to do about Lau-"

"No." Weiss interrupts, trying her best to sound calm. "Not a word. I do not want to waste even a second thought on that girl." Weiss rings the set of keys in her hand. "We have other things to do."

Yeah, the quartet has other business to perform. It's best to forget about that fiasco for now.

Team SCRP opens the door to their apartment, giving a glance over their living quarters for the upcoming four years:

Upon opening the door they enter straight into what is both the living room and the bedroom. The room is rather spartan. It has four pairs of desks and chairs for studying, a few bookshelves thus far still unfilled, two wardrobes for the teams to hang their clothes, and a large window with a balcony overlooking Atlas. On the east wall are two doors, one leading to the bathroom and the other to the dining room and kitchen. The dining room contains a table and four chairs, as well as direct access to a well-equipped kitchen. The bathroom has a pair of wash tables, a shower and a toilet, with enough space to put everyone's toiletries. As for the bedroom part of the main room, Weiss can only give a small nostalgic smile: "Well, I did always want bunkbeds as a kid."

Four bunk beds are build into the wall, with a ladder in the middle allowing access to the two upper beds. Everyone drops their stuff in the middle of the room, and just after doing that the first problem arises:

"I want the top bunk!" Three girls say these words at the same time. Ruby, Weiss and Ciel. All of them want a top bunk, but there's only two of them. One has to yield, but none of them are willing.

"Seeing that I am the leader of our team, I believe I deserve the right to choose the bed." Weiss speaks with charm, trying to win her teammates over with words. Ruby doesn't buy it so easily, countering right back:

"But this is not a team issue, right? This is something between the three of us. And I want a top bunk as well!"

"Furthermore," Ciel continues from Ruby's words, "Shouldn't a leader sacrifice herself for her teammates?"

Weiss lets out a 'tsk' at Ciel's logic, before rejecting it by pointing out that if she can't choose a bed using the team leader responsibilities, she doesn't have to sacrifice herself for the team leader responsibilities. "Furthermore, as you know I am a Schnee." Weiss brings up her past, trying to use that to make her opponents concede. "We are expected to always be dignified, always keep up appearances to seem perfect. My father never allowed me to have a simple joy like a bunk bed. To make up for this, let me have the top bunk."

"I'm the same." Ciel points out, recognizing the sob story all too well. And considering that there are two top bunks, it's easy to play along to make Ruby take the bottom. "Rich father, strictness of noblesse oblige; We both have had similar upbringings. We both were not allowed bunkbeds."

The words of her teammates tell a sobbing tale, but Ruby isn't buying it. "Girls, you're not the only ones who weren't allowed such a bed. I've never had the chance to sleep into bunkbeds either, and the idea of sleeping in the fabled top bunk is still one that I must experience!"

With that the three girls are at an impasse once more. Who has to take the bottom bed? How are they going to settle this?

"Friends, can I make a suggestion?" The three girls turn to the last member of Scorpio, who has seated herself on the bottom right bed. Unlike the others Penny doesn't care where she sleeps, so she just claimed one of the lower beds for herself. Upon seeing her teammates squabble she has made her own solution.

"I have heard that deciding the true winner of the top bunk should be decided by playing this game called 'Rock, paper, scissors'. Perhaps you can try this out?"

The three girls nod at each other, accepting this idea. It's fair, so the loser doesn't get the right to complain. A three-way battle of rock-paper-scissors who will win?

Penny stands up, overlooking the group as she takes up the position of referee. "If you are ready, I shall count down."

Fine by Weiss. With calm focus she looks her opponents in the eye. Ruby Rose and Ciel Soleil. The former is hard-headed, somewhat of a doofus. Going by personality, she's the type who you expect to play rock. However, she's shown to have a surprisingly smart head on her shoulders when it comes to battle. Precisely because of that Ruby will expect Weiss to play paper, so maybe the heiress needs to play rock instead? But then there's Ciel. Weiss would describe her as someone rock-solid, so will she play rock? Then again, she also favors palm strikes, so will Ciel go for paper?

"Rock…"

Ruby looks at Weiss' hand: Slight twitching of ring finger and pinky. Fingers only used to make the paper sign. In other words, Ruby needs to go for scissors. But in that case, why are the other two fingers not slightly moving? It must be a feint! If Weiss doesn't go for paper, then she tries to play rock! Paper, yes… unless the difference in twitch means that only the index and middle fingers will be opened, and Weiss plays scissors! And look at Ciel, her hand being perfectly calm and doing nothing. The intent to play rock or simply the trained senses of a martial artist who doesn't make unnecessary movements? No, with Ciel's entire body not moving, it's likely to be the latter, which means that her rock is a feint too! So that means Ciel will play scissors as well, meaning that Ruby should go for rock. Unless these two are aware of that tactic too!

"Paper…"

Ciel looks at the utmost focus her two teammates have and wonder why they take this luck-reliant game so seriously. It's literally a game of chance, so she just throws out good ol' rock.

"Scissors!"

The battle is settled. everyone has played her hand. A smile creeps up on Ruby's face, as she realizes one thing:

"I won!" Ruby and Ciel played rock, which defeated Weiss' scissors. Ruby read her opponents perfectly. It was a well-placed triple bluff by Weiss, but in the end those twitchy fingers just gave it away. With Ciel obviously going for either rock or scissors she would've always won with rock, and so it happened! "Weiss has the bottom bunk!"

"Yes, it is." Weiss resigns herself to her fate of bottom-bunking. Drat, if only she saw through Ciel's bluff and Ruby's double bluff. Ciel being rock-solid was known by the team leader, so rather than try to change it she just goes with it, expecting that Weiss will react to it. And Ruby must've known that Weiss predicted her battle experience, and thus did the only thing Weiss did not expect. "I am impressed, I did not expect you two to be such formidable opponents."

"Yeah, same to you, Weiss. Well done." Both share a small laugh, accepting the results of their little war. Ciel rolls her eyes at her teammates congratulating each other on their skill. It would be cruel to tell the duo that the "tactics" and "strategies" they used were based on pure circumstance and not a reflection of the other's thoughts.

Now that it's settled each prepares their own bed. Ruby in the top left bunk, Weiss to the bottom left, Ciel takes the top right and Penny has the bottom right bunk bed. After everyone is done with their beds they continue decorating their dorm, unpacking their suitcases and making everything feel like a welcoming home.

Most of the luggage is easily stored. Clothes go in the wardrobe, dust and weapon maintenance gear go in a corner to be opened when necessary, magazines and bookcases go on the bookshelf, and whatever remains is so little that it takes barely a few minutes to decorate the room with. With everything team Scorpio wants to do done they look with satisfaction at their room.

"It's still a bit empty." Weiss remark isn't wrong, per se, as there's enough room over to make the place cozier. Though, that is to be expected when you start out.

"We'll fill it during our stay here." Ruby says, flashing a warm smile at her partner. "Together we'll create fun memories to fill this entire place, right?" It slightly melts the frozen heart of the Schnee as the heiress gives a soft smile in return.

"Furthermore," Penny interrupts, "we are still missing most of our school supplies. It is likely that those will further fill up the room."

Everyone else stares at Penny, disbelieving how badly she failed to read the mood. Ruby lets out a laugh, and finds herself unable to disagree. "Yeah, I guess we are going to grab our books soon. Weiss, what else do we need to do toda-"

*rumble*

The rumbling of Ruby's tummy does indicate what should be next on the program: Food. Weiss turns to her teammates, asking which one of them can cook. Instead of volunteers Scorpio's team leader gets only awkward silence, as everyone turns away shyly.

"Cooking was not deemed a necessary skill for me to learn." Penny replies, making Weiss wonder why that old man Polendina thought it was a smart idea to teach his daughter how to operate turntables but not teach her how to cook.

"We had a personal cook." While not as rich as Weiss Ciel is still one of the rich kids, for whom cooking did not come naturally. "I'm certain it was the same for you, Weiss."

"Indeed." The Schnee has some fond memories of all the butlers and chefs working at the mansion. Especially the cake butler, he was the best. After Klein, of course.

With three of them confirming their own inability to cook they turn to the last remaining team member, hope in their eyes. Surely a simple girl from Patch should've learned how to make at least something acceptable, right?

"I can make chocolate chip cookies?" Ruby hopes to get some positive reply, but only sees disapproval from her friends. "Look, cooking was usually done by my sis or dad! I've helped a bit here and there, but the number of times I've cooked all by myself I can count on my hands… I think."

It's not much, but it still makes Ruby the most capable cook amongst the group. Unsurprisingly, this meant that Weiss appoints the youngest teammate to the role of chef.

"But I-"

Weiss does not accept resignations, and continues to explain what is expected of Ruby: "Of course, since you're on cooking duty, this means that that you've decreased cleaning and washing dutie-"

"Chef Ruby, reporting for duty!" Hey, cooking may not be her specialty, but it beats cleaning by a long shot! "So, what do we want to eat…"

The question gets an obvious answer from Ciel: "What do we have in stock?"

Ruby dashes into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Well, Ciel, we've got… absolutely nothing." Yeah, with initiation and unpacking the team never had a chance to go shopping for food, nor did Atlas provide the new students with a box of food. This leaves the chef without any ingredients.

When Weiss' stomach lets out a small rumble as well the team is forced to choose. What are they going to do for food?

Seeing a chance Ruby is the first to offer a possibility: "So, I've seen this really nice restaurant here in Atlas where they serve chocolate chip cookie dough as a dessert?" A chance is here, so why not try to get her team along? It's chocolate chip cookie dough, a whole heap of it! If this can-no, this must be achieved!

"That… sounds very unhealthy." Weiss rolls her eyes at the idea but can't in good conscience dull the shining positivity of her partner. "Though you know what? Fine. Today I'll treat you guys to dinner to celebrate me becoming our team leader. I suppose this this restaurant of yours might be worth checking out."

Ruby lets out a "Yay!" of happiness, before leading the way to their dinner location.

After some minutes of walking team Scorpio has arrived at their destination: Restaurant "Little Donkey", a cozy little restaurant that's located in an old warehouse. It's a typical casual dining restaurant, popular amongst the veteran Atlas Academy students as a place where they can get good food for a moderate price. The place is filled halfway with teams of students, meaning that SCRP can get a table without having made a reservation.

Upon entering and taking a seat a few teams give Weiss' team a wary glance, not expecting to see a Schnee in these "lower-class" eateries. Quickly the gazes disappear when Weiss looks around, nobody wanting to start a fight with the Schnee heiress and ruin the atmosphere in the restaurant.

The four of them sit down at one of the free tables. Eventually a waiter arrives and takes their drink orders, as he gives the four ladies the menu of Little Donkey.

The menu offers a very simple deal: A three course meal for twenty lien per person, drinks not included. It's a nice and simple offer, perfectly fitting academy students.

When the waiter returns with the drinks most of team Scorpio has been able to select their food. Ruby, sweet tooth that she is, starts with the sour-sweet fish cakes, followed by pork tenderloin in strawberry sauce, and naturally the chocolate chip cookie dough as the dessert.

Weiss goes for the more elegant and exotic dishes. Venison carpaccio as a starter, salmon filet with mustard sauce as the main dish and finishing it off with a wild berry pavlova.

The choices of Ciel do surprise the red-white duo a bit. Lukewarm goat cheese salad, the vegetarian curry and a dame blanche. Upon hearing these choices Ruby does begin to wonder a question:

"Ciel… you don't eat meat?"

Ciel denies Ruby's suspicions, claiming that she is not a vegetarian. Sheepishly she points out that no, she just likes curry.

With that the only one who hasn't made her choice yet is Penny, who looks rather… uncomfortable. She stares the menu chart up and down, unable to choose.

Seeing this Weiss can't help herself from making a snide remark: "What, planning on ordering the entire menu?"

"Not at all! I believe that I have reached a satisfying *hic* conclusion!" Penny doesn't fall for the teasing, instead honestly answering Weiss sarcasm. "I, uhm, choose the mustard soup as a starter, followed by the salmon and the chocolate chip dough as well."

Having taken all the orders the waiter leaves, allowing the four girls to engage in playful talk with one another. Twenty minutes later the waiter returns with the starters.

Ruby takes a bite out of her fishcakes, enjoying the sour-sweet taste to its fullest. Looking around she sees that her teammates are doing the same: Weiss is enjoying her carpaccio, Ciel takes another bite of her salad and Penny takes a big slurp of the steaming hot mustard soup.

…

Hang on, what was that last one? Unsure of what she's seeing Ruby decides to poll with the redhead about the soup. "Penny? How is the soup?"

"It is simply *hic* phenomenal!"

"Penny? The soup is steaming."

Penny looks confused, holding her hand above the soup. "It appears that you are right. Ow." Okay, that is a very delayed reaction. Now the other two members of Scorpio are looking concerned as well.

Weiss, as team leader, is the first to ask: "Penny, is there something that you should tell us?" Weiss concerns don't sound entirely selfless, but they do raise a question that all of Penny's teammates want answered.

Penny, realizing that she cannot completely hide the truth, decides to reveal it:

"My body… has a special condition. I do not require food, water, air, sleep or heat to survive."

Ciel can hazard a guess where this is going: "Your semblance?"

"Oh!" Penny shouts out, a bit louder than she planned. "Y*hic*Yes!"

Ciel nods in understanding, but Weiss is not satisfied. Sure, it explains some parts, but the main question isn't answered with that:

"That doesn't explain why you don't feel scalding hot soup, Penny."

Realizing that the question has indeed not been fully answered the redhead divulges a bit more about her body to her teammates:

"Because of my condition I generally do not eat. My digestion systems have been underdeveloped. The organs of digestion I possess do not process heat or flavor."

"Penny…" Unable to enjoy food? Ruby cannot help but feel sorry for her friend. That must be a horrible way to live.

"I am capable of detecting texture. The way the mustard seeds pop inside my mouth is simply sublime!"

At that Ruby lets out a small smile. If Penny can still find joy in her dinner, then Ruby doesn't feel so bad. Though, that said… "So… does this mean that I only need to cook for three from now on?"

Ciel lets out a small chuckle, while Weiss reprimands her partner for such an insensitive joke. Penny on the other hand takes it completely seriously:

"I believe that it is not necessary to spend any time and money to feed me. It is all right to cook only for three persons, Ruby."

Ruby accepts Penny's offer hesitantly and takes another bite of her fishcake. She can't let her food get cold after all.

Upon seeing Ruby continue with her food the rest of Scorpio returns to their food as well, changing the conversation to more pleasant topics.

Not too long after they finish their starters the main dish is served, which is also eaten during some lighthearted banter. The dessert, however, does have one point of note:

Four desserts are served: Wild berry pavlova for Weiss, a dame blanche for Ciel, and the chocolate chip cookie dough for the remaining two. Everyone happily takes a bite out of their dessert, except for Penny. She shoves her dessert towards Ruby. With two heaps of chocolate chip cookie dough in front of her Ruby wonders what Penny wants:

"Penny, is this for me?"

"Yes. I do believe I still owe you an apology for throwing you yesterday. I am aware that we are still considered friends, but it is proven that leaving debts unsettled is disastrous for friendships."

Ruby drools over the thought, realizing that her dessert size just got doubled! Calling everything even between her and Penny Ruby pulls the dough further towards her, intending to eat not one, but two heaping of dessert!

Weiss scoffs, wondering how a gift from her money that Penny doesn't need count as a worthwhile apology. Ruby doesn't care as she wolves down on her double dose of desserts.

With dessert finished Ruby looks back at an eventful day; Becoming Weiss' partner, trecking through the snow-covered forest, fighting an android platoon, fighting Weiss' older sister, the forming of team SCRP, a new apartment and an eventful dinner. All of that in one day, and there are four more years to come!

Team Scorpio's adventures at Atlas have only just begun!

* * *

Initiation is over, and team Vibrant is walking down to their dorm room. The rest of the team is chatting lightly about irrelevant topics, but it all goes over the leader's head. She still cannot comprehend that her partner, the person she is supposed to trust the most, her "greatest ally and friend during her time at beacon", is a Branwen.

Vernal Branwen. Apparently, her runaway mom's adopted kid. No way in hell that she's related by blood: She doesn't look a thing like Raven, and Dad would know if his wife was pregnant in the eighteen months after Yang's birth. Knowing that only makes Yang's discomfort slightly less.

What the hell is Yang supposed to do with this? Almost sixteen years ago Raven left. For some time, Yang was oblivious. She just assumed that Summer was her mom, even though they look nothing alike. Then, when she learned the truth at the age of six, she made her first attempt at finding Raven, together with Ruby.

If it weren't for uncle Qrow, it would've been her last.

Yang learned from her failure. She knew she wasn't strong enough to venture out into the world, so she set her sights on becoming a huntress. Over time her goals shifted from finding mom to fighting strong opponents. Ever since then, the wish to see Raven again had been slumbering in the background. It was something that she would do eventually. After Signal. After Beacon. Something that she didn't need to think about unless she wanted to.

But now?

Now it has been forcefully yanked to the front, as suddenly Raven decided to send her newest protégé to the same academy as Yang. To make it worse, by some unholy luck Yang partnered up with her. Considering how much Vernal knew about Yang, it probably wasn't by chance that they teamed up.

Yang is only filled with questions: Why is Vernal here? What does Raven want with her? What does Vernal want? Is Vernal going to abandon her midway through academy life? Yang's entire world has been turned upside-down!

After several minutes of introspective thinking Yang arrived at Vibrant's dorm room along with the rest of her team. Ilia opens the door, revealing a simple room with a single window, four beds, an equal number of desks, and a door leading to a small bathroom. It has many great features, but there's only one thing Yang cares about:

The room is private, for her team alone. With no intruders or other people butting in, this is where everything can finally be answered.

"Vernal." In her anger the team leader grabs her partner, setting her on the closest bed. "Talk. Now."

"About what?" Vernal asks mischievously, "The three of us were talking about our favorite books. Maybe you should tell us about yours?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Yang shouts angrily, her hair-trigger temper flaring up as she punches the wall, leaving a small dent. "Why the hell are you here?"

"To become a huntress, obviously." Vernal, stop giving such useless answers! "Why else would I be at a combat school?"

"Right, because it's simply coincidence that my runaway mom's "daughter" just so happens to partner up with me."

"You say it, not me." Vernal doesn't break her façade, but Yang's anger doesn't stop rising. Heat created by her semblance is emitting from her body, increasing the room temperature by a degree. The other pair, noticing that a fight is about to ensue, plan to escape.

"Should we leave?" The question is asked by Ilia, who doesn't want to come in-between this sisterly spat. Yang agrees with Ilia that she should stay out of this. Vernal on the other hand wants the rest of the team to stay, probably to annoy Yang even further:

"Now now, Yang, this is important. Our teammates have the right to know about this too if we're going to be working with them for the next four years."

"And then what?" In her rage Yang does somewhat understand what Vernal is doing, seeing some advantage for the short-haired girl. "Get them to judge in your favor?"

"That would be nice," Vernal says with a smirk, "but no. We'll let them know because they need to know. Do you think this is ever going to be a team if we keep this an open secret?"

Yang does agree on that. If she's ever going to succeed as a huntress, she will need her team. If Vernal is untrustworthy, she's going to need Blake and Ilia even harder. "You guys want to hear her excuses?"

"Yeah… sure." Blake is less appreciative of having to solve a spat like this. Considering the importance this has to the overall team mood she does need to stay. Her own goals for Beacon might be in jeopardy if this doesn't get resolved.

"Then to make everything clear for our new friends, let me start from the beginning: The life and times of Yang's mom, Raven Branwen."

The team sits down on the middle two beds, Yang and Blake on the left and Vernal and Ilia on the right. With everyone prepared Vernal starts the story:

"In Mistral there was a tribe of nomads, the Branwen tribe. To keep up their lives they needed to protect themselves from the grimm. So, the chieftain sends out his two children, the most talented youths in the tribe, to Beacon. Yang, you may know them as your mother and your uncle, Raven and Qrow Branwen."

Yang nods in confirmation, accepting the parts of the story thus far. Seeing this Vernal continues her story:

"They managed to get on the same team through a stroke of luck, along with your step-mom and your father."

"Summer, Taiyang, Raven and Qrow. In other words, team Stark."

"Indeed. Stark, the best team of its generation. The twins became so good, their skill would've been the perfect addition for the tribe… were it not for the siblings preferring life in the city. They settled down in Vale, working as huntsmen. Your mother even found a husband in her teammate, and their pairing produced a kid… you."

So far so good. This is the happy times that her father spoke of before, when all four members of STRQ were happy and together. Now comes the crux of this story, that Yang needs a good explanation for: "And two years later she ran away. Explain that."

"What happens to a village whose hunters left them?" The metaphor is enough of a clue for Ilia, who understands what her teammate is trying to say:

"The grimm…"

"Without the Branwen twins the tribe was easy pickings. Half of the camp died that day, including your grandparents. The other half fled. Broken, destitute, and without leadership, they would soon be dead too if not united."

Yang doesn't have a direct answer to the death of many, though Blake has a small question: "Would two people make that much of a difference?"

"Blake, if you exclude me and Raven, any one of us alone is enough to defeat the rest of the current camp. Back then the tribe was even weaker. They never stood a chance."

With the question answered Blake falls back into silence, allowing Vernal to continue.

"Sixty-two deaths were the price Raven paid for her inaction to the tribe. Now your mother was forced to make a choice: Save her old tribe or take care of her child. I think you know her decision."

"She chose to abandon me!" Yang angrily shouts out, unable to understand her mother's actions at all.

"And in doing so, saved the lives of fifty-seven tribesmen. If we include everyone who joined afterwards, she saved the lives of more than ninety people, including mine." Where Yang is unbridled anger, Vernal is calm and collected. Smirking she keeps up the pressure, trying to break down her leader into the desired result. "Are you so important that your life is more important than that of an entire tribe?"

"The one who chose was my own mother! How can she abandon her own child, her own family?"

"Because the rest of team Stark didn't leave her any other option." One by one Vernal explains the possibilities the STQ part of Stark had: Qrow could've taken leadership of the tribe, but he would rather serve Ozpin; Taiyang could've joined Raven as she went back, but he stubbornly refused; And Summer could've acted as an intermediary between the tribe and STRQ to keep contact up, but she unfortunately died.

Yang does see a contradiction in her partner's words: "So maybe her team could've done something. In the end it was still mom's decision to leave!"

"You think so?" Vernal has been waiting for this line, to deliver the final blow to Yang's point of view. "We still didn't talk about the decisive reason Raven received for abandoning you. The one who egged her on to leave was none other than headmaster Ozpin."

"What?!" This one gets a reaction out of everyone. Ozpin? Headmaster of Beacon, an old hero who has done so much good for the four kingdoms? That professor Ozpin? How the hell is he involved in this family mess?

Seeing the looks of surprise makes Vernal crack a sly smile, as she carefully lays her truth bare. "At the moment Raven still worked for Ozpin. Upon realizing that Raven wanted to flee back home our dear headmaster realized the opportunity and egged her to take on an important mission in her self-imposed exile from Vale. For Raven, that was just enough reason to abandon you."

None of the other three completely buy it. Headmaster Ozpin, the headmaster Ozpin, highly acclaimed hero, is the cause of this family drama. Everyone is curious what the truth is, especially Raven's own child who wants, no, needs to know more:

"What mission could be so important that mom would want to leave her own family?"

"Eh, guarding something." Vernal shrugs, feigning a lack of knowledge about that part. "Raven doesn't tell me everything. If you want to know more, I suggest you ask dear old Ozpin about Farvardin." Not that it will help much. If Raven's description is right, then he'll be as secretive and unhelpful as possible. Not that that's always a bad thing though, because bad blood with Ozpin is always a good sign for a true Branwen.

The room falls silent for a moment, as everyone but Vernal needs to mull this information over. How much can their headmaster be trusted? Ilia and Blake didn't have a high opinion of Vale's most important human leader to being with, but this makes it even worse.

Yang is somewhat lost too. Vernal brought up a lot of information today, and if it can be trusted… if she can be trusted, then Vernal has made some huge arguments to distrust Beacon itself.

Nobody has a counterword for the Branwen, so perhaps it's time to put the finish this conversation: "Do you see now, Yang?" Vernal adds with a smile intended to inflict further mental pain, "Your mother is just as much a victim as you. The bad luck of the tribe and the disagreements of team Stark, all overseen by Ozpin as he manipulated Raven for his schemes. Can you really blame Raven for her actions?"

There you go, the perfect story. Any sane person would agree with Vernal here. Sure, Yang will still be angry for a while. But her dislike towards Raven should be close to gone, and the empty void it creates can be directed at Ozpin. It's almost too easy.

"Yeah, I can, and I will!" Yang shouts, unable to agree. For the first time during the conversation Vernal is surprised, having lost the tempo of the conversation. "'Ozpin wants this', 'team Stark could've done that', It's all just excuses! Excuses from a mom who abandoned her own child! And if you must abandon your own child, then you're a terrible mother!"

Yang! You stubborn, selfish brat! Vernal gets angry, her calm façade showing cracks. So many points brought up in Raven's favor, and this blonde buffoon still won't listen? It's like trying to convince Raven whenever one of her strategic decisions has a fault!

Yang really is her mother's daughter. If stubbornness is her enemy, then there's only one option left for Vernal. Mentally calming herself down she offers Yang the only tiebreaker she has on hand, hoping to drown out Yang's will with that of the masses:

"Well Yang, I've told our story. How about we let the outsiders judge?" Based on their actions in the emerald forest the other pair will likely vouch for Vernal, given how they preferred the logical action of running away over fighting the deathstalker. These two should be sane, or at least some measure thereof. The VY pair turns to Blake, hoping to hear an answer from her mouth:

"I…" Blake looks hesitant to speak about this issue, the pain in her eyes clear to her teammates as she reminisces about her own past. "I know people who ran away as well. People who ran away for lesser reasons. Yang, I know this feels wrong for you, but I don't think your mother did something wrong."

Yang feels betrayed. Sure, she doesn't know Blake all too well, but to select your tribe over your family is not a choice she expected Blake to make.

Before Yang can retort the brown-haired girl on the other bed rebukes her friend's opinion.

"Fleeing from your family? Leaving your own kin behind?" Ilia's tone indicates heavy disagreement, the slight shock in her voice indicating this is the first time she's lashed out like this against Blake. "I can understand people doing so. I might even be friends with people like that. However, if it's up to me, I will never make that choice myself!"

Friend against friend. Partner against partner. The team has been together for barely a few hours and it's already starting to fall apart.

To the surprise of everyone it's Vernal who tries to keep everything calm. "Whether Raven is right or wrong doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm here, no, all four of us are here. You may not like me, Yang, and I don't expect you to do so very quickly. However, you can trust me. I will try to make Vibrant a success."

If the short way doesn't work, Vernal must go for the long way. Perhaps over time she can subtly win her partner over given time. For now, let's cut the losses and make sure that Yang's trust towards the Branwens isn't irreversibly broken.

"Fine then." Yang lets her anger subside, having at least some answers to her problems. As team leader she should at least try to keep the group together, so she will not keep this conversation up any longer. "I'm not sure if I can forgive my mother, and this still pisses me off… but I will trust you, for now."

"Then it's settled." Vernal accepts these terms, leaving tonight's talk as a draw. She didn't win over Yang, but she does have her trust. Furthermore, Blake sides with the bandit. She might be a positive influence on Yang. It's still doable to get that blonde on her side. "Now, how about we get some food? The cafeteria should still be open, and I'm famished."

"I can get behind that." Ilia adds. It has been a busy day. A lot of calories have been spent on initiation, and they've only been able to replenish themselves with snacks. It's no surprise that Ilia wants to eat too.

Blake nods as well, interested in the tuna casserole offered by the cafeteria. Seeing the rest of team Vibrant hungry Yang dismisses the talk, leaving the rest of the evening to be spend normally.

The team eats their dinner in relative silence, only talking about non-sensitive topics to not create another explosive conversation like the sibling feud. After dinner team VYBA return to their room, ready to call it a day.

Everyone takes a bed, sleeping in the order of their team name. Vernal takes the bed on the very left, Yang and Blake have the middle two beds and Ilia is against the wall on the right. With the lights out everyone quickly falls asleep, ready for their first day of class.

The next morning the alarm goes off early at six. Everyone wakes up and gets out of bed at around the same time. Yang looks at her teammates, unsure what to think after the family issues of yesterday.

Blake. The calm and mellow girl. The smart one of the team, who supports a fight not only with her combat capabilities but also with sensible and logical thinking. Thinking, yes, that made her side with Vernal during yesterday's argument. Even though she only knew Blake for a day back then, Yang already feels betrayed.

Ilia. On the bright side, she sided with Yang during the argument. On the down side, Yang has no idea if she really did. Ilia is still guarded to everyone but Blake. Her emotions appear muted, almost faked. Even when she passionately defended Yang's point of view, she didn't feel like she was letting her anger and opinion go wild. Is she with Yang on this issue, or did Ilia just say so to stay in the leader's graces?

And then the main crux, Vernal. Yang's feelings for her are… complicated. There's some hate for her, but it's not exactly hatred. There's some trust, but it isn't trust. And try to keep it separated all she might, Vernal does stay "that person's" adopted daughter. Just looking at her brings up bad memories.

Ugh, how the hell is this team going to work?

Welp, now's not the time to think that. Yang needs to get to classes, and she needs to look good. Groggily she walks over to the bathroom, hoping to get a nice long shower to wake herself up. Just as she's about to enter the bathroom Yang's partner stops her in her tracks.

"How long do you need to use the bathroom?" Vernal asks, intending to use the bathroom as well.

Yang can't precisely aim down her bathroom stay: "Eh, dunno? Shower, brushing teeth, changing clothes, other stuff-"

"Yeah, you're not going first." Vernal interrupts, giving Yang the evil eye. "With that hair of yours it's going to take ages before you're done. Just let me use the bathroom for five minutes and then you can go."

Vernal's offer is very logical. Growing up in a tribe means that she is probably used to be ready as quickly as she can. Yang can easily wait a few more minutes, no skin off her back. With Vernal asking, Yang's reply is easy:

"Nope." Yang says with a smirk, a wicked plan forming in her head. "I'm the team leader. Could you imagine how badly I would represent my team if I didn't give my hair a long, precious treatment?"

"Yang, you bit-" the team leader didn't hear the rest of her partner's curse, quickly slamming the door shut behind her. Heh, now that feels good. Vernal should be seething with anger right now!

Upon letting out a chuckle Yang realizes something. A conclusion that she came to during the night and proven once more out here:

Yang doesn't really hate Vernal. In fact, she's kind of nice to have around.

Yes, Vernal is her mother's adopted kid; Yes, she's siding with Raven on the "leaving your family behind" thing; Yes, she does uphold the same mentality as her mother. That doesn't mean that she is Raven. Whatever dumb thing her mom did is on her, and on no one else.

In the end Vernal is still the same girl who became Yang's partner in the forest: prideful, loyal, smug, confident, a bit too interested in being a nuisance to Yang, but most importantly she is incredibly fun to tease. The two of them probably won't ever be friends in the common sense of the word. However, they just might get along with each other, in their own, special, annoying way.

And if not, then Yang can always poke some fun at her.

With a wicked smile Yang undresses herself, intending to take a looong shower. Vernal surely won't mind that, right?

Forty minutes later Yang steps out of the bathroom, much to the annoyance of Vernal. Before Yang can make a snarky comment at Vernal said partner dashes into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Yikes, someone really needs to use the bathroom. Blake and Ilia, both already dressed, look somewhat amused by the squabble between partners.

It takes another twenty minutes for everyone to be done dressing up for school. With the clock striking a quarter past seven there's still plenty of time before the classes start at nine. Furthermore, there's also one small thing that the team didn't have time for yesterday. Combining these two Yang gives her first team order:

"Girls, I think it's time to decorate our room!"

The rest of the team mostly shrugs at the idea, not exactly against it nor completely in favor. It's telling that Ilia appears to be the most interested of the three.

Hmph. If they're like that, then some people need some fun in their lives. For a sunny extrovert like Yang, that job sound like it was custom-made!

With proper motivation Yang manages to make decorating fun for everyone. Even Vernal seems to somewhat enjoy the decorating, even though she became the victim of a practical joke halfway though:

Team Vibrant accidentally learned that their V can safely be dropped from three stories high while wrapped in curtains.

After an hour of work everyone looks with pride at their nearly finished personal room. Decorating the place was surprisingly easy. Vernal, Ilia and Blake are those you call light packers. Vernal didn't bring much more than the essentials: Clothes, toiletry bag, scroll, wallet, weapon and dust supplies. The only extras she brought with her were a few small memorabilia from the tribe, nothing that takes up a lot of space.

Ilia and Blake also trek relatively light. Blake did bring a large stack of books, but with some planks and nails enough bookshelves could be made to contain the library-like number of books.

And then there's Yang. Unlike the rest of her team, she has quite the large collection of junk. Some of it that doesn't take up too much space was easily fitted into the room, like her The Achieve Men and Fun House posters. Other stuff that does take up too much space is still in boxes for later decorations, stuffed in a corner of the room.

Yang puts another of these boxes down and kneels in front of it, noticing it's her second box of clothes. Just as she's about to open the box she gets tapped on the shoulder. Looking back Yang sees Blake standing over her, tapping hand now pointed towards her scroll.

"Think it's time to go to class?" Yang looks at the scroll, which clock indicates that the time is a quarter to nine.

Ilia scrolls trough some data on her own scroll, looking for where they exactly need to be: "Grimm studies, by someone named Port, West Wing 201. Should be a ten-minute walk." In other words, the team will be slightly early.

Vernal shrugs, not having a problem with being slightly early. Everyone looks at team leader Yang, wanting to hear her orders. Everyone has probably the same idea, but Yang makes it official:

"Then it's obvious what we're going to do: Team Vibrant, pack your bags, because we're off!" With that the new team leaves their dorm room, ready for class.

Team Vibrant's school life begins now!

* * *

 **Let's skip the authors note and go right to the questions:**

 **Lord of Memory:** _ **Did Raven send Vernal to groom Yang to join the tribe now that Ruby isn't around to have a positive influence on Yang?  
**_ **Though I think it might be obvious by now, you've got Raven's motivations spot-on. Yeah, Vernal is pretty much there to convice Yang to become pro-Raven and anti-Ozpin.**

 **Lord of Memory:** _ **Is Vernal really Yang's sister in this story?  
**_ **If she is, she is. If she isn't, she isn't. Does it matter? What is important is how Yang sees their relationship, and how that influences the little sun dragon.**

 **sakuralovelight:** _ **How is Winter taking the whole "Qrow's niece is in my sister's team" thing?  
**_ **Winter most certainly does not like Ruby, seeing her as a potential future Qrow. Going by volume 3-3 she has enough self-control to stop fighting Qrow on command, so she certainly has enough self-control to keep her relationship with Ruby professional. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Weiss gets a message from her sister telling her to never ever let Ruby touch a drop of liquor.**

 **Guest 19-11-18:** _ **Isn't Penny overusing the word "Friend" compared to the show?  
**_ **Perhaps you have a point there. However, this Penny's vocabulary is still evolving. Look at how much Penny's speech patterns improve between volumes 1, 2, 3 and 7. This Penny is four months younger than during her volume 1 appearance, meaning that her speech isn't on that level yet.**

 **LHY10:** _ **Is Weiss team leader only because of her name?  
**_ **I'm certain the Schnee name does have some influence in the higher reaches of society, though Atlas doesn't let completely incompetent people lead. Rather, it's more of a factor that pushed the decision slightly in Weiss' favor.**

 **LHY10:** _ **Why is Yang the leader of VYBA while it starts with Vernal's initial?  
**_ **Because coming up with a good team name that starts with an Y or X is really, really difficult. The best I got was YABB, or Yabby, a blue crustacean. Remember that part from chapter 1-4 where Ozpin and his staff had trouble coming up with a name? Yeah, that part was entirely based on real life.**


	7. Chapter 1-6

Almost a week has passed since initiation. Ruby has made her way through several different lessons, and through it she has come to one conclusion:

Atlas… really is a school.

Yes, it's a huntsman academy, where Ruby learns to become a legendary huntress. It's still a school, with classes, homework and all that boring stuff.

8 blocks of three and a half hours, a school week of 28 hours with the weekends off. At least the free Friday evenings and Monday mornings means that the weekends are long and allow for plenty of dozing off.

Four blocks are mandatory, shared by all first-years: Grimm Studies, Dust Studies, and two blocks of Combat Studies. They are training to become huntsmen, after all. The other four blocks can be selected from a wide variety of subjects. Everyone can choose their remaining subjects separately, but on Weiss' orders the team made their choices together.

It was agreed on that everyone would take History together, and all the other variable subjects need to be tackled in pairs of two. This way if someone falters there's another person to help them with their studies.

For the midday block on Thursday Ciel and Weiss take Economics, while Penny and Ruby have Metallurgy Studies; Weiss and Penny take Advanced Dust Studies for the Friday morning block, while Ciel and Ruby share that time on Physics.

The final variable timeslot is the Tuesday morning, where Ciel and Penny take Martial Arts. The red-white duo on the other hand picked something that Ruby heavily lobbied for:

SERE. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape. A program meant for huntsmen and huntresses who want to work out in the field, charting unknown territories full of grimm. It's exactly what Ruby wants, and it's going to be totally awesome!

This leads to the current moment, where Ruby is sprinting through the hallways. She was walking with Weiss through the hallways of Atlas, until she realized that she forgot her textbook for SERE. She had to sprint back to the dormitory, grab the book, and run all the way back towards the main academy building. All this time Weiss hasn't been in sight, and the classroom is almost there! Is Ruby too late, or did something happen to Weiss? Ruby is afraid that she's not going to like the result.

As Ruby sprints around a corner she literally runs into another student. Neither of them expecting it they both fall on the ground. Ruby is the first to stand up, observing the student that she hit: A blonde boy in the Atlas uniform, who looks otherwise somewhat average.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Ruby stammers out, "I didn't look where I was going!" In slight panic she extends her hand, hoping that this guy doesn't mind her clumsiness too much.

"Oh no no no, it was as much my fault, really." The guy takes Ruby's hand and lifts himself up.

With him standing up he is ready to move on, but Ruby has one more question for him. "Ehm, did you perhaps see my partner passing by? She's about my height, long white hair, scar over her left eye…"

"Do you mean Weiss Schnee?" Oh, good, he knows her! Ruby nods, and the guy is happy to help his lowerclassman: "Yeah, she was talking with Jack, my partner. Just go around that corner, take the second left and she should come into view."

"Thanks!" With that Ruby sprints past her upperclassmen, looking for her friend.

It's just as that guy said: there is Weiss, talking with two upperclassmen. One guy and one… other person, both in the male uniform. The one whose gender is obvious has a darker complexion, and he wears a black fedora over his short black hair. The androgynous person is just as tall, but with long blond hair and a more effeminate face.

Upon seeing her partner Weiss warmly greets the red reaper to come over. Ruby quickly gets introduced to the two upperclassmen by her partner:

"Ruby, meet Flynt Coal and Jack Ivory. They are the team leaders of Funky and Jade, considered the best third- and second-year team of Atlas respectively. Jack and Flynt, this is my partner, Ruby Rose."

A few nods from all sides settle the introductions. Ruby asks why this group of team leaders have gathered here, the question answered by the blonde:

"Well, your little partner here has been discussing about how she is planning to follow in our footsteps as the best team of the generation. Might be possible too, given what we all have in common." Jack's words earn a small nod from the other upperclassmen, who lets his friend explain: "See, all three of us have dads who are in the dust trade business."

"Yep." Flynt agrees with that, telling the story of his own father: "Had a nice little store here in Atlas… until the SDC bought it out."

"That is a pity." Weiss reply is cold and impassionate, like she heard it a thousand times before. The words that flow from her mouth are equally emotionless, a speech that seems to have been ingrained into her from youth: "However, no business survives forever. The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any stores that go broke, that responsibility rests on their own head."

Weiss reply is cold and mechanical, and Flynt doesn't agree with it. Jack however has a different spin on it:

"If it happens by legal means, sure, then it is our own fault. However, can we say the same if it was caused by the competition using illegal methods?"

"What are you implying?" Weiss asks with a curious brow. Jack is fully willing to explain the cruel past for the young heiress.

"My parents and younger sister were assassinated by Marcus Black." This gets a shock even from Flynt, who hadn't heard this part of the story before. "He bragged that he was hired by your dad, Jacques Schnee."

"How dare you!" Weiss shouts in anger, not accepting the insult thrown at her father. "We Schnees are shrewd businessmen, yes, but not murderers! We do not sink to such a low level! Even if my father hired assassins, he wouldn't be stupid enough to select someone so incompetent at keeping secrets."

Weiss claims innocence for her family, but Jack has heard enough from Weiss excuses:

"Yeah, I'm going after David. I've now met with the Schnee heiress, and found the apple not falling far from the tree." Weiss outburst gets ignored by Jack, who walks away with a casual wave of the hand. "Though I should warn you that if you sent your little friend there to assassinate me it will be her who dies."

Ruby shouts after Jack that she's not an assassin, but there's no response from that upperclassman. Three people are left, with clear bad blood between two of them. Yeah, that isn't good. Ruby tries to assuage Weiss anger, but this only causes Flynt to continue taunting:

"So Schnee, how did you get in this academy? Did daddy buy you a nice few subjects, letting you play huntress with your little team?"

"You-" Weiss anger and rage are boiling. She has trouble finding good replies to Flynt's trash talk. Noticing the heiress' anger Flynt only continues to up his ante, insulting Weiss even further:

"You Schnees are many things, mostly negative ones, but y'all ain't cut out to be huntsmen." Flynt laughs, enjoying the verbal beatdown he is laying on one of his most hated enemies. "Try as you might, Schnee, but in the end all that money of yours still can't buy you skill."

"Hey!"

Ouch, that must be a painful remark. Ruby can understand why Weiss is so angered. Well, if Flynt wants to go that way, then who is Ruby not to reply in kind: "Well, then it's a shame that you can't use your skill to get some money!"

Aw snap! Looks like Flynt just got burned! Ruby holds out her hand, ready to receive a low five from Weiss to accentuate that sick burn.

…

Seconds pass, and an expectant Ruby doesn't find a reply for her gesture. Ruby looks at her partner with disappointment, and somewhat saddened she must explain something basic like this:

"Okay, Weiss. This is where you low five me. I made a cool remark, so you gotta slap me to seal the deal!"

Weiss rolls her eyes, giving Ruby the classic "dolt" line. She refuses to give Ruby the requested low five.

With a disheartened "aw" Ruby slinks away, the burn never rightly applied. Why did you do this, Weiss? Now Flynt is only half-burned. He has the chance to make a comeback again! Because you couldn't finish the job all of Atlas is threatened by this two-bit musician, perhaps even the entire continent of Solitas!

Flynt on the other hand lets out a small chuckle at Ruby's failed attempt to bond. "Keep trying all you want, Rubes, but that's one ice queen you won't defrost." Straightening his back Flynt starts to walk away, but not before giving Ruby some final advice: "Your partner is still a Schnee: To her you're just another tool to be used."

After another hey from Weiss Flynt also walks away, letting out one final chuckle at Ruby's unfortunate fate. The two freshmen are now left together, and it's clear for the girl from Patch that her team leader needs some consoling:

"Weiss, don't let them get to you. Those guys didn't see you fight during initiation. They aren't your partner, heck, they're not even your teammates! The Weiss I know is proud, strong, really strict with our homework, way too obsessed with rules,"

"Hey!"

"-but most importantly, she's where she needs to be. As the leader of team Scorpio, and as my friend." Ruby gives one of her most warming smiles, and it seems to have some effect on her friend.

"I… thanks, Ruby." Weiss lets out a deep sigh, letting all her frustrations slip away. No matter the enemies in this hostile environment, so long as she has Ruby as a partner and Scorpio as a team Weiss will not falter. "Shall we go to the classroom? It will not do if we're late."

Ruby nods, and together they go on their way once more.

After a short walk the red-white duo enter the classroom. It's a rather small one, only able to house about thirty students. The duo looks around, hoping to see any familiar faces. Just as luck would have it Ruby recognizes a certain dog-eared faunus.

Otto! And there's still two places free on the bench next to him. Talk about luck!

The pair takes the seats next to Otto, where Ruby works as bridge between the heiress and the faunus. She introduces both to one another with quick introductions. Instead of friendly communications they look at each other, glaring at certain parts of each other's body.

That hair, those eyes, that SDC logo on her clothing. Otto can barely believe who he's talking to: "Hello… miss Schnee."

Weiss cannot take her eyes away from the aspect that makes Otto a faunus, staring at those two black ears on top of his head. "Yes…. Hello indeed."

Talk about an awkward mood! Ruby tries to lighten the mood but finds two accusatory glances coming at her from both sides. Neither her partner nor her friend is exactly happy about this situation, their body language telling the red reaper that both do not like who Ruby associates herself with.

"Ruby? Otto's words are uncertain, still in disbelieve about the situation. "Remember back before the introduction: You were supporting my wish for equality, so… what are you doing with a Schnee?"

"Equality?" Weiss snorts at the faunus' question, giving him a look of disdain. "And what are you going to do about it? Destroy dust supplies? Burn down our affiliated dust shops? Kill my distant relatives?"

"Wha-" That's something he cannot believe. Even the White Fang can't be crazy enough to do that, right? "What are you talking about?"

"The faunus, of course. That is all I've seen you animals do. You cause crime, chaos and unhappiness to whomever you please. It is people like you who can't do anything good for the world."

Those accusations make Otto angry as well, causing insults to fly back and forth between the two with Ruby in the crossfire. O boy, introducing these two was a mistake. It's just like before in the hallway.

"Stop, stop!" Holding her hands apart to separate the two bickerers she tries to get in before everything gets out of hand and the teacher throws them out of the classroom. "You two stop right now!"

Both of them fall silent, allowing Ruby to take the word: "Weiss," Using an admonishing tone she tried to copy from Weiss' sister she begins to stop this unneeded hatred. "I don't know what the faunus did to you in the past, but Otto is not just a faunus. He's my friend, Ciel's brother, and not a bad person."

As Weiss is reeling from this new knowledge Ruby turns to her other friend to give him equal scolding words. "And Otto, Weiss is not just a Schnee. Sure, she might be bossy and have absolutely no sense of humor,"

"Hey!"

"but she is a good person. She is more than just an heiress, and I won't let you make such assumptions about her. I won't let any of you make such assumptions of the other."

Otto does have some possibilities to counter Ruby's words, but for the sake of his friendship he goes for the peaceful option: "I'll trust Ruby for now." Otto extends his hand, hoping to bury hostilities and start some neutral relationship with the heiress.

Weiss weights the arguments from both sides. Her knowledge against that of Ruby and Ciel. For their sake she accepts the handshake. "I suppose you can be given the benefit of the doubt."

Otto and Weiss aren't even close to being friends, or that friendly to one another. They will fall back towards hatred upon a single bad move or word from either side, but at least they won't get in each other's hair for the moment.

So… crisis averted?

"Ahum." A loud cough resonates through the class, enough to focus everyone's attention to the front of the room. Standing there is a giant of a man, easily over seven feet tall. He is bulging with muscles, barely constrained by his red-colored Atlas uniform. The slight white color in his hair and yellow-tinted glasses make him seem as intelligent as he looks strong, and as far as Ruby can analyze his weapon those foot-long bracelets on his arm seem to enhance his punches with electricity.

"Greetings, students." The giant of a man speaks, his voice strong, booming, yet professional. "My name is Tiger Iron. I am a soldier and specialist of the Atlesian Army, specialized in the reconnaissance of uninhabited wilderness and mapping of ancient civilizations."

Oh yes, Ruby can already see what she gets to do with a man like this: jumping out of bullheads from thousands of feet high, dropped hundreds of miles away from civilization; Surviving on nature's blessings while wading through an entire horde of grimm; Standing on top of the highest mountain of the continent, surveilling the surroundings for miles around them. Yes, this is going to be awesome!

"And I am the assistant teacher of this course, helping professor Katt-Grumm with her teachings."

Wait, what? Assistant teacher? What kind of monster must that professor be if she can order a man like him around?

Ruby's question is answered when from behind the giant a much shorter faunus woman walks on the podium, about the same size as Weiss. Long pink hair in a ponytail is the only color that contrasts her stark white uniform and lab coat, the same hue as her cat tail. Her yellow eyes seem strained from overwork, given by the heavy bags under her eyes and a pair of glasses she needs to see clearly.

With a cynical tone she orders the class to silence, before starting an opening speech that seems to be both too memorized and too spontaneous at the same time:

"Welcome, lost children. I am professor Katt, genius scientist, and ruler of the Atlas Academy laboratoria. Well, we aren't in the lab at the moment. This course can sort of be temporarily moved into these ordinary classrooms. Well, simply put, it's a mysterious course. A course where you can do whatever I want. It's a paradise for all those sad, little lost children who couldn't make it to the more scientific courses. A sort of Avalon. People who are all like: 'I don't need help', or: 'I only want an easy course', or: 'I'll just look at some upperclassman's notes' can get lost… Very well. Today's lesson… Tiger, come here."

The giant guy does as the cat faunus tells. Calmly he starts to explain what the students can expect from this course. "It is as professor Katt-Grumm said: what we teach is a complicated, multifaceted course, and you do well to listen to everything we say:" With a small cough to clear his throat teacher-assistant Tiger starts his explanation:

"SERE. Survive, explore, rescue and extract. You may think that these skills seem very basic, and you are correct. However, every single thing you learn here can mean the difference between life and death in the field." Professor Tiger reaffirms his glasses on the bridge of his nose, giving the students a small moment to take it all in. Ruby and Otto are calmly listening to the big guy's story, while Weiss is scribbling furiously in her notebook.

Tiger walks over to the holographic projector, as he shouts out the name appearing on the screen: "Survival!" With each word on the list he slaps the respective words with a long pointer, creating a small shockwave of sound to keep up everyone's focus. "When you're done with this course you can be dropped in the complete unknown without any possessions and you will not only survive, you will thrive!

Exploration! You will be able to chart unknown territories, map them for others, and reach any place on this entire planet. If there is a goal to reach, you will not only find it, but you will make sure others can find it as well!

Rescue! You are not the only explorer, and it pains me to say that many of your brethren will not have followed this course. After all, as this course is adapted from military training you can only learn SERE at Atlas academy. Therefore, when your allies get in trouble out in the wilderness, you will be able to get to their aid before authorities even have the time to mobilize!

Finally, extract! Because all of the above is meaningless if you cannot safely return to civilization!"

Yes, yes, yes! This is what Ruby dreams of, what Ruby wants! She can already picture it in her head. Team Scorpio, scouting through the unexplored regions of Remnant, searching out grimm nests to exterminate them, laying the groundwork for new cities, rescuing other people, and being heroes! This course is going to be awesome!

"Of course, we do not expect you to master it a day. For the first year of your career here in Atlas we shall focus on getting you to obtain the necessary survival skills." Tiger names several courses that the students will learn: Woodcraft, sheltercraft, equipment improvisation, snare- and trapcraft, and several more. "But when it comes to survival there is one skill that everyone should know." Tiger walks over to the cloth-covered stack, and throws the cover off, revealing its content:

Food. Food of all kind and sorts, though all of it can be gathered in the wilderness. Meat, fish, wild vegetables and berries. It's clear what this lesson is about, as Tiger summarizes it in one word:

"Cooking!"

And suddenly Weiss wished she had taken a different course.

Tiger's lessons start, and through the course Weiss' opinion of the course only gets slightly better. Some parts are useful, even for the heiress. Learning the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous berries, for example, might be useful in the field one day. The cooking part with berries on the other hand Weiss wished she could've just left to Ruby. It's only been a week and already her Atlas uniform is stained with berry juice! Stupid, dumb berry compote, making her dirty all over!

No, Weiss is happy that the midday block has started. Combat training, something that should go a lot better. Last Thursday she managed to best the team leader of CROT in a singles match, showing off her skill as a huntress for the world to see. In fact, her entire team manages to win their practice matches, putting Scorpio up as the top team from the very beginning.

The lesson follows the same structure as last time. The first ninety minutes is theoretical explanation, which the entire team seems to guzzle up like a fish to water. Professor Schwarzen's lessons this time are about teamwork and battle formations, making the heiress start preparing her own strategies for the team.

Their formation is a no-brainer, really. Ciel is a master of unarmed combat, making her the most frontal attacker is obvious. The speed of Ruby and Penny makes them the flankers, each on the side of their dominant hand. Lastly, Weiss; with her multitude of glyphs and dust she makes the perfect support, orchestrating the battle from behind. The perfect formation for the perfect team!

"Students." The professor's accented words resonate through the hall, forcing even the students who were half-asleep to focus once more. "Today I have taught you about teamwork. Now you will put these skills to the test. Follow me to hall thirteen o'four."

It's the same training hall where most of team Scorpio spend their first night, so they know where it is. They follow instructor Schwarzen to the training hall, one of Atlas Academy's prided hard-light dust training room. It's an empty room, only the light blue grid covering everything standing out. Instructor Schwarzen types a few things on his scroll, as the training room now sports a large flat combat arena of about fifteen by fifteen meters. Their instructor begins to explain the type of battle they will hold today:

Today the teams will face each other, each team against one another. 4 against 4, and a person is out of combat if either their aura drops below 20% or they've been knocked out of the ring. The winner is the team with the most people left standing. as for the remaining teams, Colt presses another button on his scroll, and a group of tribunes are created for the 38 teams who aren't participating during each battle.

Team Scorpio sits down, their team not being amongst the first two teams named. Silently they watch the fights as one by one teams are named, most of them of too little importance to note. The ones that had participants recognized by Scorpio were fights too short to notice. Otto and his team managed to win an overwhelmingly easy victory, and the bullies from Jasmine also scraped one out of the box.

As the fights pass one by one it dawns on Scorpio that their team hasn't been named yet so far. Fight fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen… and still SCRP does not get called out by the professor. It's almost remarkable that of the forty freshmen teams it takes this long for them to be called out.

When match nineteen still does not ask for Scorpio to take the stage it becomes clear that they're the last match of the day. Since thirty-eight of the forty teams have been called out so far, the last match can be pierced together by process of elimination. This would be a lot harder were it not for Scorpio having heard one other specific team not being called by professor Schwarzen:

RGAL.

Ruby and Weiss look at the other side of the room, where their enemies are located. Robin gives them a friendly wave back, but his confident "I won't back down" face tells Scorpio enough. Both teams know who they're going to fight.

In that case, it's time to prepare for a perfect victory. Weiss grabs the attention of her teammates, snapping them out of watching the second-to-last match. Having gained everyone's attention the heiress whispers her plan to the team:

"Okay, as you might've calculated we will fight the remaining fight against our neighbors."

"We get to fight Robin?" Ruby squeals, drawing the attention from their combat teacher. Weiss and Ciel shush Ruby, who falls silent before muttering an apology. With the focus renewed Weiss explains the team formation first. Everyone agrees with the diamond shape, Penny and Ciel even expecting it. With that out of the way Weiss explains how they are going to take down their enemy:

"Team Regal might be the strongest freshmen team in Atlas. After us, of course. However, if you watched the individual bouts of yesterday it was obvious that they have a few weaknesses. Two, to be precise:"

First Weiss starts with the obvious one: "Laura Wolff. An aggressive hand-to-hand combatant, but her aura pool is terribly low. Yesterday she only suffered a few glancing hits yet still ended with less than half her aura remaining. Two or three good hits should be enough to take her down."

"Also, she probably can't use her semblance." Ruby's interjection surprises the rest of her team, and the youngest member of Scorpio is forced to explain: "Well, I talked with Robin during the week, and he told me a bit more about Laura. Her semblance allows her to regenerate wounds and lost body parts." It's also why she was kidnapped back in Atlas, since her body allowed for near-infinite organ transplants. It's a dark secret that was entrusted by RGAL's leader for the sake of unity between teams. Now it's used to bring about their downfall: "And, well, since this is tournament rules, she doesn't need to regenerate anything, right?"

"Well done figuring that out, Ruby. I should expect nothing less from someone who partnered up with me." Weiss builds upon Ruby's information, using it to explain Gaia Greene's weakness: "Gaia has a similar problem. While geokinesis is a powerful tool, the combat floor is made of hard-light dust. Considering that she had some trouble using nothing but her fists against some below-average freshmen she's probably too used to fighting with her semblance. She is weak without it."

With no clear weaknesses for the men of Regal Weiss bases her strategy on those two weaknesses: "Ciel. You will quickly take out Gaia. Ruby, Penny, use your speed to charge Laura and take her down. I'll use my semblance and dust to keep the two men busy. Then we'll strike down on the remaining two and win this match."

The plan is made just in time, as the buzzer indicates that match 19 is over. Schwarzen announces the next and final match for the day:

"Final Match: Scorpio against Regal."

Both teams grab their weapons and head down to the arena. One team on both sides, with only a brief moment before the match starts.

Like a good captain Robin wishes his opponents the best of luck, and Ruby gives the best wishes right back. The clock counts down, all fighters making some final mental preparations.

The buzzer goes, and the match is afoot!

Scorpio opens their tactics as discussed: Ciel swerves towards Gaia, taking the battle to the right side of the arena; Weiss summons several glyphs from which she launces ice shards at the two males; Penny and Ruby use their speed to dash at Laura, hoping to quickly eliminate the faunus from the battle.

Yes, perfect, this is exactly how Weiss planned it all! This will be an overwhelming victory for team Scorpio! …so why is Robin giving that all-knowing smirk like he saw this coming?

"Plan C, everyone!" Robin's order completely changes the reactive stances of his team. Laura backs up to the end of the arena, her two pursuers following suit. Robin charges Weiss and turns his body into a human shield for Ace, bringing him out of Weiss' barrage and free to chase after Laura's pursuers, trapping half of SCRP in a pincer attack.

Smart tactics, Weiss will admit, but her teammates aren't so easily defeated. In fact, thanks to Robin taking projectiles for two his aura gets dropped by quite a bit, leaving him with only three-quarters of his starting total. This is still fine for Scorpio!

"Gyah!" Ciel's sudden screaming cause her team leader to look over at the fight between Gaia and Ciel. Instead of Ciel quickly beating the unarmed opponent the tanned girl is flailing wildly, a brownish cloud hanging around her eyes. Sand? Did Gaia use a dirty trick to throw sand in Ciel's eyes? What a low blow!

Weiss would love to help out her teammate, but the pair of eskrima sticks aimed at her body don't leave her lots of time to allot to her allies. Robin has gotten too close, and now Myrtenaster must show off its capabilities as a fighting tool. It pains Weiss as she helplessly watches Ciel take two heavy blows to her body, sending her flying to the other side of the ring and taking heaps out of her aura. The only consolation is that there is no buzzer indicating a knock-out, letting Weiss fully focus on the opponent in front of her.

Eskrima sticks versus rapier. Two weapons that require high dexterity and skill face off, a multitude of quick slashes and strikes aiming to harm the other come from both sides. Robin's weapon mastery is somewhat higher than that of Weiss, but she makes up for it with her family's glyphs. Both sides have blows pass through their guard, their auras steadily decreasing. It's an even fight, but Weiss has one advantage: Robin was forced to take some damage to free his teammate. By the time Robin gets his aura in the red Weiss will still have around 40 percent left. It wasn't Weiss' plan to take the leader out like this, but it will do.

Robin realizes his conundrum as well and backs off from the fight. To better fit the situation Robin changes his team's tactics to better fit the match: "Gaia, Laura! Plan E!"

Laura has been busy dodging a hailstorm of swords from Penny, while Ruby is doing some damage to Ace and preventing him from harming Penny. It changes when Gaia charges at the group of four, planning to outnumber Scorpio. Ciel is still recovering from the sneak attack and Weiss is blocked by the enemy team leader, so it's up to Ruby to prevent Gaia from doing any damage. Swinging Crescent Rose at the blonde enemy she tries to keep Gaia's focus on her, but a punch from Ace's robotic arm causes Ruby to miss her swing and allow Gaia to slip through the reaper's defense.

Penny notices the arrival of a new enemy and swings half her swords at Gaia. Upon seeing this the master of geokinesis proves she has another trick up her sleeve. Literally, as a heap of sand flows from her sleeves and hardens around her, causing Penny's attack to deflect and barely do any damage. Running through the barrage Gaia tackles the redhead, leaving them both in a grapple as Laura escapes from Penny's attacks.

With Penny and Gaia in a grapple neither has room to dodge. Penny gets punched in the face, while swords strike against the unprotected parts of Gaia's body. The blonde of Regal takes several blows from Penny, dropping her aura by forty percent, but the tackle is not without effect:

"Penny Polendina, Ring Out." The redhead looks down, where one of her hands is touching the ground outside the ring. Accepting her loss she steps out of the combat arena, rooting for the success of her remaining three teammates.

SCRP only has three members left. Both the plan to eliminate Laura and Gaia have failed. Weiss looks in horror as she watches everything she build up crumble away. Nonono, this cannot be! This is all wrong!

As she fights Robin Weiss tries to think up a comeback. Though they may have lost a member the absolute difference between both teams is not that big. RGAL has 290 percentile points remaining, while SCRP is sitting at 225. That's something a single good comeback can overcome, especially since 100 of Regal's points are from Laura's weak aura.

Said person did escape from the original attack and is now on her way to Ciel. The tanned woman did recover somewhat from the sand in her eyes, but she's still squinting. Laura does not have the honor to wait for her opponent to recover and starts a lightning-fast offensive. Under normal circumstances this battle between martial artists would be quite even, but now Ciel is in a bit of trouble. On the defensive she manages to block most of her opponent's slashes, though a few glancing blows bite off a few slivers of her aura.

Weiss sees this happening and tries to come over to help. Her path gets interrupted by Robin, who is more than happy to let her teammate beat up Ciel and make the situation worse for Scorpio. Myrtenaster stings like a bee, but Robin floats around it like a butterfly. Not getting any closer Weiss focuses on getting rid of Robin first, were it not for a sudden hail of bullets coming at the two of them.

Both Weiss and Robin look at the origin of the surprise attack, where Ace is firing his machine gun at a fleeing Ruby. While the girl in red takes a few hits she does manage to strike Robin down, doing some damage and freeing Weiss from her fight. Weiss understands what to do now and forms a long line of glyphs on the ground.

Sliding over the floor she creates two glyphs, each shooting out a sword of ice aimed at the brawler of Regal. It should buy Weiss enough time before she can reach over.

It turns out that that was the biggest mistake Weiss could make: Laura grabs one of the ice swords out of the air and slashes it at Ciel, shattering it against her arms. The splinters of the sword dig into Ciel's skin, dropping her aura even further and the cold slowing her down just enough to leave her open. Weiss tries to reach Ciel in time but it is too late, a set of claws slash down on the Soleil heiress, dropping her aura low enough that she gets terminated from the game. Laura takes on the newly arrived Weiss, who realizes that it is just her and her partner against an entire team.

Yeah, Weiss' plans won't help win this battle. That is what Ruby concluded on her own. No, it's time to do things her way.

Little red reaping hood aims the barrel of her scythe at Robin, who instinctively dodges the blast using his skills. Of course, that was to be expected. Using the recoil of the scythe Ruby flies to the other side of the arena, where Gaia is taken by surprise at just how fast Ruby can be when she combines her semblance with recoil boosters.

Out of tricks Gaia raises her arms, but to no avail. Two quick slashes are enough to deal lots of damage to Gaia's aura, and the buzzer says enough. Regal just lost its first member!

This leaves Laura, Robin and Ace. Ruby has reasons for each of them to choose who to eliminate first, turning it into a 2 versus 2. Laura has a low aura pool, and as she is already engaged with Weiss she is the most susceptible to a surprise attack. Robin is the best fighter of the three, but his aura is at a measly 35 percent. Ace may have the most aura left, but he's better as long-range support and Ruby can take him in a straight-up fight.

Choices, choices. Ruby decides who to fight based on what she believes Weiss can sustain the longest. If Ruby goes after Laura everyone will conglomerate around that area, giving Regal an advantage. If Ruby goes after Ace Weiss will have to take care of Laura and Robin, which is close to impossible. But Ace will be less capable of fighting Weiss if he might hit Laura, making Robin the obvious choice to target.

Ruby sprints at Robin, who returns his eskrima sticks into bo form and strikes back. Crescent Rose gets parried, its tip coming dangerously close to Robin's face but never completely hitting him. A bullet striking Ruby's back tells that Ace decided to focus his fire on Ruby instead of Weiss, making Ruby jump up and try to get Robin in-between Ace and herself. Thanks to her semblance this is possible, but Robin is fast as well. The leader of Regal shifts his weight a bit, getting into Ruby's blindside. A single trust is executed with the staff, but instead of dodging this is the perfect moment for Ruby to counterattack!

The butt of Crescent Rose slams into Robin's stomach, while his bo staff does the same to Ruby's side. Both lose a significant amount of aura from these attacks. Robin's not done yet, neither with his aura level nor with his attack. With a press of the button he activates the dust crystal in his staff's tip, making Ruby scream in pain as she gets electrocuted.

Ruby jumps away from that evil weapon, checking if everything is fine. She feels a bit doozy but kicking Robin's butt should solve that issue!

"Ruby Rose, out of aura. You are terminated." Schwarzen's words bring Ruby out of her thoughts and make her look at the projected screen. Her aura bar sits at only twenty percent, indicating that she went below the acceptable aura pool.

"O come on!" With an angry huff Ruby stomps out of the arena, leaving Weiss to take care of three more enemies.

Utilizing their numerical advantage team Regal corner the heiress, their continuous attacks forcing Weiss to take steps back and back until she reaches the edge of the arena. Another backstep would lead to a ring-out, and there is no space to dodge. In desperation Weiss launches a final attack, depleting her remaining dust to create a massive wave of flame towards the enemy team.

It's the first attack that seems to work. Robin and Ace brace themselves and step back, losing enough aura to bring Ace around half his starting level and Robin ends up in the red, eliminating Regal's leader.

Laura is the only one enduring the flames, charging through the flames and launching herself as a projectile at the heiress. The aura of the only person not hit during the fight is draining rapidly. Hunderd percent, eighty, sixty, forty… might this be Weiss' chance, is Laura suiciding here?

Taking the shot Weiss thrusts her rapier at the faunus, getting a glancing blow on the side. Laura's aura should be in the red, but her body is still flying straight at Weiss. A clawed hand finds its way into Weiss pelvis. The claws don't penetrate Weiss body thanks to her aura, but the pain is still enough to make Weiss flinch and fall over.

A loud buzz indicates that more people have been eliminated. Weiss can feel what time it is, in a literal way too considering that she's still doubled over from pain. Professor Schwarzen points it out for everyone to hear:

"Double KO, Laura Wolff and Weiss Schnee. All members of team Scorpio have been terminated. Victory goes to team Regal."

With that announcement the class is dismissed. All created platforms and tribunes are dismissed, and he is the first to walk out. The students pack up their gear, most of them quick to leave the academy and hoping to grab a quick snack. The members of team Regal give each other high-fives on their victory, before leaving to grab dinner.

It doesn't take long before the only students left in the room are the members of team Scorpio, licking their wounds from defeat.

What just happened down there? RGAL completely slaughtered them! Sure, they managed to knock most of the enemy down. However, combat initiative was almost constantly with the Regals, and team Scorpio played completely into their hand. Absolutely nothing went right!

"How did this happen?" Weiss start to go in a tirade, shifting blame on the team. "Ciel, what happened against Gaia? And you two, why didn't you manage to get a quick kill on Laura?"

Ciel comes up with an excuse for at least her failure. "Gaia's hidden weapons, they were… not according to plan." Weiss is somewhat satisfied with the answer, and then looks over the other two members of her team. Penny gives a summary of what she believes was the problem:

"The number of combatants we had to face exceeded our initial estimations."

Ruby agrees with Penny's explanation and proceeds to shift the blame to what she believes is the cause of this loss: "Yeah, what happened to "I'll hold the two guys off"? Because last I checked I was forced to fight Ace!"

"I'll admit that Robin forced me into a duel." It is the only ground Weiss is willing to give. "However, you had more then enough time to finish off Laura, Ruby. Why didn't you quickly defeat her? Then you and Penny could focus on Ace and get the advantage that way!"

"Because maybe I didn't want to get struck down by a hail of Ace's bullets!" A pouting Ruby sits down on the ground, grabbing her backpack and slinging it on her back. "Weiss, admit it: your entire plan sucked. Gaia's "weakness" took Ciel out of the fight, and the fixation on Laura got Penny knocked out of the ring!"

"Then you could come up with a better plan?" Weiss asks sarcastically.

"I don't know, maybe?" Ruby shouts in frustration, jumpy and agitated with this loss. "We could've taken them. We're stronger than them, but we lost!"

Weiss has no direct counterpoint for that, and comes back to her own defenses: "We had the best possible plan to fight Regal an-"

"Yeah, you did make a plan." Ruby interrupts, not denying what Weiss claims. Angrily she points out Weiss' problem: "And then what? All I've seen you do during the fight was to duel Robin! You didn't lead us at all!"

"Hey!"

"You didn't do anything to lead us during battle. You didn't say anything, you didn't gesture anything; all you did was make a plan and hope it would work out!"

"I had many ways to alter my plan for success!" Admittingly, most of these plans were imagined too late to still be effective, but they did exist! "I led our team out there!"

"Then why didn't you show us? Why did you do nothing?" Both partners are shouting, letting their anger chart the course of the conversation. "Maybe Flynt was right about you! I bet you bribed Ciel out of her rightful position of leadership!"

"Wha-You!" Weiss wants to make and angry comment, but Ruby already dashed out of the classroom, a tear in her eye.

* * *

Almost a week has passed at Beacon as well, where Yang contemplates the first week of school. All in all, it was rather… normal. Compared to initiation day everything settled into a usual rhythm:

Waking up, get dressed, go to school, spend the afternoon relaxing, go to sleep and find time to tease Vernal whenever possible. Sure, the movie the team went to during the weekend was fun, but it was still an ordinary weekend.

The normality of the situation is not per se a bad thing, as it did increase the bonds between teammates. What seemed like a disaster in the beginning might turn out to become a group of fire-forged friends!

Yang's team is also getting along swimmingly with Jaune's. Perhaps it's due to their time in the Emerald Forest together, or maybe because these teams are the strongest first-years of Beacon by a long shot. Yes, even including Jaune team Juniper easily takes a spot on the podium. Either way, a closely-knit friendship is forming between the teams of Vibrant and Juniper. Now at lunch the two teams share the same table, VYBA on one side and JNPR on the other.

Everyone is eating their lunch as they listen intently to one of Nora's stories. Well, Yang, at least. Blake is reading a book while enjoying her tuna sandwich; Ren is correcting Nora's stories in-between sips of his tea; Vernal is listening with half an ear, which is half an ear more than Yang expected; Jaune is shutting off from the rest, mulling over something as he moves his chicken nuggets around the plate; Pyrrha is too busy being worried over her partner to spend much time listening; And Ilia? If looks could kill, then she just murdered someone on the other side of the cafeteria.

Nora eventually finished her story, allowing Yang to divert her attention to the pony-tailed teammate. It is only now that she notices Ilia's horrifying glare. A simple question of what is wrong with Ilia makes her point a finger at the source:

Team Cardinal, busy harassing some bunny-eared faunus. Pulling on ears, calling her names, it's a grade or two worse than what Yang saw at Signal. Yeah, Ilia's reaction is very understandable, what those guys are doing is atrocious.

"This is unacceptable!" Ilia cries out in anger. "How the hell does Beacon allow students like them?"

The answer is rather simple, which Ren provides for the group: "Better a racist than a grimm." Say what you want about Cardin, but he does have some skill. If that can save lives, then this bullying is a small price to pay. "The kingdoms need any strength they can get."

True words are spoken, but they're not enough for Ilia. Justice needs to be served, no matter how. She reaches for her weapon, only realizing that it's still in her locker.

Luckily for her Beacon lockers come equipped with a rocket function. Ilia whips out her scroll, unlocking it so she can send her locker just outside the cafeteria. It quickly begins to dawn on teams Juniper and Vibrant what Ilia is doing, eliciting similar responses from other members:

"Ooh…" Nora pulls out her own scroll, ready to do the same thing as Ilia. She has one plan ready, the usual that she falls back on whenever brute force can be applied: "We'll break their legs!"

Ilia is very excited by the idea, but Yang immediately shuts it down and refuses to let either of them to do so. Yang's angry teammate is understandably not very happy with her chance at justice denied:

"What the hell, Yang?"

"Don't get me wrong, Ilia." The last thing Yang needs is her teammate thinking that she supports that ass. "Cardin's a jerk. However, we can't solve this by injuring them." Maybe they can, but Yang doesn't want her entire team suspended for delivering justice.

Ilia doesn't agree with Yang's opinion. She sees nothing wrong with using force to get things done, and she is perfectly willing to do whatever it takes to save that rabbit faunus. "If you've got a better solution, then state it."

Something needs to be thought of or a fight between Ilia and Cardin will break out, which needs to be avoided. Hmm… maybe Yang does have an idea. The brawler flashes a cheeky grin, as she makes her teammate look around her. "You know the saying, 'When in Vacuo, do as the Vacuans do'? We're in the cafeteria, so let's fight in the way of the cafeteria."

Strange mind seemingly think alike, as Nora is the first one to understand what Yang wants. No longer does she simply hold her lunch, as she somehow manages to obtain a basket full of half-ripe tomatoes. "Ohohoh, yes. I like that idea."

Ilia grabs food as well, preparing for the initial strike. Jaune and Pyrrha, though somewhat more uncertain about this idea, grab some loaves of bread if the worst comes to happen. Ren and Blake continue to enjoy tea and book respectively, only Vernal seems openly against the idea:

"Yang, no." Vernal admonishes her team leader as if she's a dog. The blonde is not interested in listening and addresses Cardin:

"Hey Cardin, over here!" Cardin looks up from his prey towards the one addressing him, only to find his face covered in tomato. Nicely done, Nora!

Cardin wipes the tomato mush out of his face, scowling with rage. "Blondie…"

"Right, I think I owed you another humiliation, big guy!" Yang shouts cockily, standing firm with one foot on the table and another on her seat. Like a true leader she addresses the enemy, informing him of his incoming demise. Aw yeah, this is happening! Big, badass fight to protect someone? The only thing that could make it better if there was an official commentator for this match. Now Yang only has the introductions for both teams in her head:

 _In the red corner, an amalgamation of the best freshmen of Beacon! The brawler! The amazoness! The brown ninja! The valkyrie! And, well, Jaune. The Vibrant-Juniper alliance for the rescue of bunny-eared chicks!_

 _In the blue corner, the Cardinals! Sure, they don't have the grace of birds, nor their speed. However, they've certainly got the same type of brains! Will they be able to continue their bullying ways, or will the alliance stop them?_

The smart students, about two-thirds of the remaining students, are smart enough to leave before things get out of hand. The others are about to get caught in the crossfire, as the battle between both teams begins now!

The tomatoes from Nora's basket form the opening barrage, each member of the alliance throwing as many as they can. The alliance lost their round of surprise over Cardinal, and as a result the members of CRDL are able to respond appropriately. With ease they dodge the tomatoes as they come crashing around them. The big leader himself even managed to grab a giant slab of ham from one of the tables, and like it was his own mace he pelted three tomatoes away from his team and into the bodies of innocent bystanders.

With the projectiles emptied all participants seek for weapons they can use to some degree. Yang quickly finds a pair of uncooked turkeys, just lying around on one of the tables. No idea who eats that for lunch, but they will certainly serve the brawler well now.

Leader meets leader in combat, as ham strikes against turkey without any regard for cross-contamination. Cardin takes the offensive with his aggressive style, powerful blows that can take out Yang's aura in just a few hits. Yang nimbly dodges around the big guy's swings but can't land a solid counter. Well, time to get Cardin to make some openings.

"C'mon big guy, don't tell me that's all you got?" Yang taunts her opponent, and with his temper he isn't that capable of protecting himself from it. Cardin gets angrier and angrier, and Yang can't help but smirk at how much fun she's going to have.

Some feet away from them two fighters who rely more on skill take the battlefield. Pyrrha has grabbed a baguette, her weapon of choice to use against Russel. The guy in green has taken a pair of mayo and ketchup bottles as his weapons of choice. The weapons clash, the sound of plastic against bread resonating through the hall. Russel's skillful and quick fighting does not allow Pyrrha much respite, but she fought worse in the Mistrallian arena.

Parry the main-hand weapon, dodge the follow-up made by the other, step back to take advantage of reach, counterattack with thrusts. So far Pyrrha's basic tactics against dagger-users work, forcing her opponent to try different tactics:

Russel twirls his weapons 180 degrees, so that the mouths of the bottles are aimed straight for Pyrrha's face. The planned tactic is clear to both fighters, as the mohawked guy squeezes his weapons tightly.

A cloud of condiments flows out of the bottles, red and yellow mist trying to splatter Pyrrha's face. Reflexively she raises her left arm, before realizing that there is no Akouo to block attacks. The mistake only lasts for a moment, but it's enough. The upper half of her face is covered in condiment.

Pyrrha is blinded, unable to see. Quickly she wipes off the mayo and ketchup from her eyes, but she knows she lost an attack. Someone who is skilled with quick daggers like Russel will surely land an attack. Already Pyrrha anticipates the blow, hoping to somewhat roll with it to minimize damage. Bracing herself she awaits the blow, expecting to get struck down.

"Huh?"

When Pyrrha opens her eyes she sees a shocked Russel, and the sound of plastic clanging against metal fills her ears. Looking down Pyrrha sees a dining tray blocking Russel's dual-bottled thrust, held out by her partner Jaune.

"Ehm, hey." Jaune casually replies, seemingly forgetting that he's still in a warzone. Russel makes good use of it and smashes the bottom of his mayo bottle against the blonde's forehead, making him fly away a few feet.

Pyrrha's partner just got downed by saving her. No, that is something a four-time champion cannot let go lightly. Her vigor renewed she launches the offensive on Russel, who now needs to go all-out to not get clobbered by the redhead.

The other redhead of team Juniper didn't manage to find a good weapon, instead running across a few tables to pick whatever food is available as ammunition. Sandwiches, soda cans, apples; so long as it fits in Nora's hands it gets thrown at Dove Bronzewing, who is steadily advancing on her position.

Dodging a sandwich aimed at his head Dove rolls over a table in his way, grabbing a baguette that was lying on top of it. Now with weapon in hand he makes a beeline for the unarmed Nora, who in a slight panic seeks for anything to use as a weapon.

Long weapon, big head, something to smash with… where is all the good stuff? Nora reaches out to a pumpkin, only to feel sharp pain. Dove made a single thrust, straight into Nora's stomach. It's enough to send the boisterous redhead flying, as Dove mentally complements himself on his perfect execution. However, there is no time for celebrations, as Nora managed to turn the attack against Dove:

In Nora's hand is now a long support pole, about the same length as the girl is tall. With a grin she stabs the rod in a watermelon on the ground, arming her with a proper weapon. At this Dove smiles, finally getting a worthy fight. Dove is ready to charge and defeat his enemy, only for someone else to hold him back.

"Stand back, Dove." Sky Lark, the last member of Cardinal, now takes a stand. In his hand is a support pole just like the one Nora wields. With a quick twirl he sticks one end into a nearby watermelon, creating a similar polearm as the valkyrie. "This is my fight."

Seeing the mirror match Nora cannot help but laugh in anticipation of what is to come. With glee she walks towards her opponent, melon hammer ready to break lots of legs. Sky gives a smirk in return as he charges at Nora, creating the only place in the cafeteria where steel clashes with steel.

With Dove now freed he takes a glance over at the other fights. Cardin manages decently against Yang, while Russel is doing surprisingly well against Pyrrha and Jaune. He's still losing, yes, but fighting this evenly against the four-time Mistrali champion should still be considered a win for his mohawked friend.

As Dove judges who needs his help the most he suddenly gets strangled from behind. Looking down he sees a chain of sausages roped around his neck, dragging him down onto the floor. The blonde guy tries to struggle against it, drag his assailant out, but the Cardinal starts to feel woozy. The lack of oxygen from being strangled is starting to take its toll on him.

No! Dove can't let his fight end like this! His team is already too much of a sausage fest, to be defeated this way would be the ultimate humiliation! With all his strength Dove lifts one sausage part of the chain up to his mouth, and bites cleanly through it. The chain snaps in two, sausages falling lifelessly to the side. The pressure around Dove's neck fades, freeing him from the stranglehold.

With her weapon halved in length Ilia throws away the remaining sausages. Dove swallows his food and gets back up on his feet, ready to fight once more. With a grin he looks at his assailant, the enemy that he lost sight of. "I'll admit, you got me. Though, I doubt you'll be any threat in a fair fight."

Ilia just grabs a swordfish that has landed on one of the tables, ignoring Dove's taunting words. Words are wasted on the soon to be dead.

By now the cafeteria is almost completely empty except for those who fight. Most of the students would not mind a food fight, some were even actively promoting it. However, they wanted a food fight in the traditional sense of the word, with mushy ingredients used as ammunition. A childish food fight, like those you see on television. What the crazy freshmen from Vibrant, Juniper and Cardinal are doing is several levels too high for them.

There are only three non-combatants left, their table miraculously a safe zone in this fight. Blake, Vernal and Ren are still enjoying their activities from before the food fight: Blake is almost finished with the current chapter of her book, Ren's taking the last few sips from his tea and Vernal is being annoyed by her teammate. It's business like usual for the three of them, a stark contrast from the utter chaos around them.

"Uhm, do you mind?" The team looks up and sees the original victim of CRDL's assault, intending to take a seat as well on the only remaining table. With no complaints she takes the seat next to Ren.

"So…" The girl begins, seeking to strike a conversation with the rest of the table, "you guys have nice teammates."

Ren and Blake both nod, with the former saying a small "thank you". The quiet members of both teams don't continue the conversation, both trying to finish what they're doing. Vernal, having nothing better to do, proceeds to talk with the rabbit:

"What my teammates do are up to them. The question is, why aren't you helping them? Those five are fighting for you for no reward nor reason." Vernal doesn't get into other people's fights, but even she considers it wrong to dupe your own problems on others without doing anything yourself. Velvet does not deny the accusation, but claiming that it's actually a problem is something the bunny faunus arguments against:

"It's just a food fight. I'm not going to be interrupting their fun." Velvet lets out a small laugh, her thoughts dwelling on memories of the past. "Last year we had something like this too, though Coco went way overboard as a result."

Vernal notices the last part of Velvet's sentence has a secondary meaning. It takes a single question to learn that the faunus is her upperclassmen. Vernal doesn't know why her senior doesn't just kick the crap out of younger bullies, but that's not her decision to make.

The conversation falls silent, as for a small moment everyone continues what they were doing. Ren finishes the last drops of his tea, and asks the question that has been looming in the air since Velvet sat down: "Are we going to help?"

Blake closes her book, and the two quiet members of each team agree without talking. Velvet doesn't mind joining in, already grabbing an abandoned lunchbox from the table behind them. Only Vernal is hesitant about joining:

"I don't care what for childish games thos-" Vernal's argument gets rudely interrupted by a flying piece of fruit. The rest of the table shift their gaze to the cause of said interruption:

There is Cardin, who thought it was a good idea to throw a filled table at Vernal's teammate. Normally she would agree that it might be a good way to deal with that annoying blonde, were it not for one of the watermelons on the table flying off towards the non-combatant's table where it hits the Branwen straight in the face.

Vernal wipes the mushy watermelon bits from her face, glaring daggers at Cardin. Cardin doesn't seem to notice, as he's too busy with fighting Vernal's teammate.

Vernal gives out orders to the remainder of the teams, her voice tranquil and furious: "Ren, prepare my weapons. The Branwen are going to war."

"Of course, Milady." With a sudden dash that might even impress professor Oobleck Ren takes off, and within a second he is back kneeling in front of Vernal. He holds up a serving tray with two large bretzels. It was the only chakram-like weapon he could find.

Vernal takes the weapons, deeming them fine pieces for vengeance. Now ready for combat she looks at her allies, the second team to reinforce the alliance. Blake. Ren. Even the newcomer Velvet is willing to fight. All of them are armed and ready.

As one they stand up from the table, ready to reinforce the alliance. Vernal leads this temporary team into battle with one rallying shout: "Bring me Cardin!"

Most of the duels temporarily halt upon hearing Vernal's war cry, with most of Cardinal starting to feel fear from being overwhelmed. The one who puts the situation best is Yang, who starts to grin wickedly:

"Oh, you guys are so screwed." It's not like Cardinal wasn't in trouble before, but this large a force is something even a team of teachers might not be able to stop. Yep, it's game over for Cardinal.

The reinforcements split up, each of them looking to help with a different part of the battle. The one who joins up with Yang is the person who has the biggest beef with Cardin: Obviously, it's none other than Yang's teammate Vernal.

A bretzel flies straight at Cardin face, forcing him to parry the weapon upwards to prevent getting blunted by snack. The move was completely predicted by Vernal, who jumped up in the air and caught her weapon mid-flight, falling down towards the beefcake with both weapons aimed to obliterate her enemies.

For once Cardin makes a smart decision and backs away, Causing Vernal to only make cracks in the floor. With her attack having missed Vernal stands up, ready to continue the fight. A small tap on her shoulder brings her slightly out of her trance, as she sees her partner standing there with a dumb smile on her face.

"Yang."

"Vernal." Both partners look at each other, and then at Cardin. They know exactly what they need to do, and say it at the same time:

"Let's hunt." And Cardin suddenly felt fear. Damn it, how did this happen? He is Cardin Winchester: strong, tough, awesome, graduated amongst the top of his class at his preparatory academy; Why are these two girls kicking his ass? Damn that Xiao-Long!

Flying bretzels, turkey punches, and whatever ammunition can be used as makeshift ranged attacks: The barrage is overwhelming, and Cardin is losing aura fast. In a last-ditch effort he swings his ham at the blonde nuisance, hoping to finally crush her!

He gets surprised when one of his hands gets stuck in Vernal's bretzel, who does the same to his other hand. Flipping over the back guy she forces his arms behind his back, leaving his body right open to be punched.

It's an opportunity that Yang doesn't let go to waste. It's time to show off how she perfected the Dempsey roll! Hooks with both the left and right turkey, blowing through Cardin's aura as Yang proceeds to finish it off with a Yang-style finisher:

Ordering Vernal to let go she punches Cardin straight in the chin with a mighty uppercut. Cardin is sent flying into the air, and Yang is ready to make Cardin go meet cold turkey!

Just as Cardin is falling back down Vernal jumps up in the air, kicking the bully in his back to send him flying into a corner of the cafeteria. This is as clear a victory as it's going to get, and the bandit finally releases her rage.

"That was pretty kick-ass, wasn't it, Vernal?" Yang's stance has relaxed somewhat too, holding out her hand high for a high-five. It's as if all the hatred between the Branwen and the Xiao-Long is gone for just a minute, brought together by a common hatred for team Cardinal. Vernal cracks a small smile, agreeing with Yang that this was a job well done. Accepting such a gesture is fine for once, thus creating the first time that Vernal voluntarily high-fived her teammate.

Ren chose to help Jaune and Pyrrha with their opponent. If this was a serious battle Nora would obviously have been his first choice, but she seems to be enjoying her battle a bit too much for Ren to interfere.

Grabbing a pair of leeks he arms himself against the other dual-wielder, blocking a pair of bottles that Pyrrha just dodged. Upon seeing the help arriving Pyrrha smiles softly, giving her teammate a small nod to indicate that she accepts the help.

Ren nods in return as they take the offensive together, now using their numbers to wear Russel down. Russel gets hit a few times but uses his agility to dodge most of the blows. His aura running low the member of Cardinal tries to launch a counter, only to find his weapons locked against those of Ren. The counter failed, but that doesn't mean Russel is going to quit trying!

"I won't go down so easily!" Russel says with a strained voice, clearly fighting beyond his capabilities here. Ren just stays stoic, as he gives his opinion on what Russel just said:

"I disagree."

Russel doesn't have much time to ponder over those words as he feels a large blunt object hit him in the back. Said blunt object is Jaune, who uses his dining tray as a makeshift battering ram to charge into the mohawked guy. Ren jumps out of the way, so there is nothing standing in-between Russel's face and the cold, hard floor of the cafeteria.

With Russel downed it's up to Pyrrha to perform the finisher: Loudly she stomps on the floor, right next to Russel's head. A small black spark seems to come off the huntress' boot, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything else. No, wait, is Russel… floating? It's as if Pyrrha's stomp caused Russel's torso to fly upwards, in perfect range to be struck down by Pyrrha's baguette. With a wide swing she sends him flying.

Dove and Ilia have been ignoring that it's been raining men around them, the battle between swordfish and baguette too intense to allow any disruptions. It's clear to Ilia that while Cardin is the leader of Cardinal, Dove is their best fighter. Worst of all, while the swordfish somewhat approximates the rapier form of her real weapon she is way better with using it as a whip.

Several slashes from Dove come from multiple angles. Upwards, downwards, sidewards, diagonally. The speed and precision of these blows is impressive. With all her agility and reflexes Ilia parries the blows, but it's not to last. One blow manages to slip through her guard, baguette slamming against torso and blowing the air out of her lungs. Dove follows up with two more slashes that make Ilia fall to the ground, leaving her wide open.

As Dove is about to strike his fallen opponent down a pair of watermelons fly towards him, forcing him to dodge so not to take damage. Ilia looks up, seeing that the originally bullied faunus girl is now fighting as well, intending to take Dove on by herself.

"Leave this to me." Velvet swings into the duel, wielding a lunchbox as a weapon. The blows are way more powerful than such a weapon should allow, Dove can feel his bread starting to strain under the pressure. This is unnatural, is this caused by her semblance?

Velvet adjusts a pair of imaginary sunglasses as she delivers a heavy overhead swing. Ilia just stands there in awe, almost unable to believe that this is the same girl that just got bullied. Blow after blow threatens to strike Dove, who starts to have some trouble with bunny girl. It isn't like she gets through his guard, but he isn't offered time for respite. If this continues his bread will break before that lunchbox, and he will be caught unarmed and unready.

The member of Cardinal jumps back, taking a moment to refocus and restart the battle on his terms. With a lack of attacks from both bunny girl and bunny lover Dove can finally try to make up some winning tactics.

"Okay, time for you to-" Dove finds himself silenced in shock and awe as he sees bunny girl lift an entire bench as a massive makeshift greatsword. Velvet swings her weapon downward, forcing her opponent to dive backwards.

One would expect that a weapon of such weight, while fearsome-looking, wouldn't be much of a danger. You either swing it downwards or sidewards, and the recovery from each swing is gigantic. Dove is fully expecting that Velvet is leaving a massive opening here. Imagine his surprise when she managed to stop the sword from falling downwards and continuing the attack with a powerful trust. Unable to dodge Dove brings out his bread for a block, the force it sustains finally enough to break the baguette.

Velvet's stance switches once again, dropping the bench for a pair of long carrots that she wields in reverse-grip. Weaving towards the unarmed Dove she unleashes a flurry of moves that wouldn't look out of place in a martial arts movie. With two decisive strikes she sticks the carrots in the gaps between Dove's armor, before a double-fisted punch forces Dove to stumble backward.

It took a few steps but Dove quickly recovered his composure. Grabbing a new bread from a nearby table he is ready to continue fighting, but not before shelling out a taunt: "nice trick, bunny girl, but when this battle is over you're gonna wish you were dead!"

Velvet does not fall for the taunt, instead pointing towards the carrots stuck in his armor. "No, you're already dead."

Dove looks down at his armor, where he sees the carrots swelling up in-between his armor. "What th-" With tons of force the vegetables explode, blasting off the armor from the fighter and flinging him backwards. Ilia throws the swordfish after him, pinning the guy to the wall by his t-shirt.

Blake decided to help in the duel that did not get any support from the rest of the reinforcements, in this case being Nora against Sky. She jumps in-between the polearm-wielding duelists, causing Sky to yell in surprise:

"Holy mackerel!"

Well, Sky isn't wrong. Blake's weapon is a mackerel wrapped in newspaper, normally meant to be eaten while it's still hot. This time it is also usable as a weapon, as Sky is about to find out:

Slap. Slap slap slap. Slap slap slap slap slap. Blake performs a multitude of slaps on Sky, who still isn't over the fact that he's getting fished. Blake's attacks are dizzying the poor guy, who is starting to regret joining Cardin in this battle.

"Oh, oh, I found a fish too. Throw him to me!" It seems Nora also wants in on the fish action. Blake looks back, and sees Nora holding out a fish as big as she herself is:

"…Fermented shark?" Oh god, it stinks! Blake may be a fish lover, but that is just plain disgusting! Who in their right mind would like that?

Blake almost feels bad for the half-unconscious Sky. Nobody deserves to come even close to food like that.

On the other hand, he did bully a faunus and bring down the anger of Ilia. Yeah, there's not really any remorse to feel for him. Blake chucks the guy at her ally, who holds the shark like a baseball bat. With a mighty swing she slams the fish into Sky's belly, sending him flying from one side of the cafeteria to the other. It might not be a homerun, but it should get Nora to third base.

The four final strikes against team Cardinal managed to land around the same time. The CRDL quartet have been thrown together in a corner, most of them half out of the fight. On Yang's side everyone's still standing, ready for a round two.

Yep, the fight's over. Cardin is basically the last one standing for the enemy, and the most he can do is give an angry glare. It's rather pathetic, and he doesn't intimidate anyone. Okay, anyone but Jaune, who takes half a step back.

The big guy barks orders at his team, who do their best to stand up and fight. Russel, Dove, especially Sky seems to be done with fighting. Still they follow the orders of their boss, preparing themselves for battle. Yang must give it to them, CRDL is rather tenacious.

Round three of battle can finally start, were it not for sudden interruption:

With a loud crash the door to the cafeteria is opened. Standing in the doorway are three people, people that Velvet knows all too well:

"Everyone!"

A giant of a man dressed in the outfit of Mistrallian samurai; A dark-skinned redhead with glazed eyes, but seems quite alert for a blind man; Finally, a very fashionable girl wielding an amalgamation of kitchen tools, reshaped in the form of a minigun.

The girl steps forward, her weapon drawn. "My name is Coco Adel, and I think you need to meet my weapon." Coco explains all the details of the weapon she made from kitchen tool scraps: "It weighs 150 kilograms and fires 200 lien custom-ordered coffee beans at ten thousand beans per minute. It costs 25 good cups of coffee to fire this weapon for twelve seconds."

At that all of team CFVY let out a smirk, as Coco says the one thing on their team's mind: "You guys bullied my teammate. Using this gun against you is coffee well spend."

Team Cardinal now look truly terrified, even Cardin starts to sweat nervously. The enemy team tries to escape from the upcoming onslaught, but to no avail.

Coffee beans pelt against CRDL, an onslaught of bullets pushing the team against the wall. Sky and Cardin are the first to be hit, slamming into the wall hard enough to cause cracks. Dove and Russel manage for a bit, but even they cannot beat this avalanche. It's simply too much for any living being.

So many beans, just so incredibly many beans. Yang thought that Coco was exaggerating a bit, but perhaps it's the reverse and it fires even more! All enemies are thrown into the wall, pelted with the coffee beans. The barrage lasts a few seconds more before Coco stops shooting, getting a good view of her own work:

Everyone on the enemy team is covered in brown bean mush. With the last of his strength Sky grabs a white napkin from the nearby ground, waving in in the air as a sign of surrender. This is it, victory for this alliance!

The losers from Cardinal slink away like beaten dogs, their leader making another empty threat at Yang that "She'll be sorry." Yang just smiles through it, not caring about any form of "retribution" they might come up with. She has more important things to do for now, like celebrating her victory with the newcomers.

Yang greets Velvet's teammates, where the remaining two members introduce themselves as Fox and Yatsuhashi. Yang introduces VYBA and JNPR in return, who each says some form of hello to their upperclassmen. Yang starts the conversation with CFVY's leader, talking about what caught her fancy:

"So, what's up with that thing?" Vibrant's leader is talking about the coffee minigun, which clearly could not have been made during this fight.

Coco is happy to give some explanation: "A little pet project of ours from last year. We lost a foodfight like this back then, and we wanted to be prepared for any future battles."

"Though this seems a little bit excessive for a foodfight." Seriously, it must've taken days to build this thing, and don't forget the lien needed to buy all the kitchen tools processed into this weapon!

"I'm not denying that. Though, I don't seem to be the only one enjoying their weapon."

Coco points behind Yang, where Yang sees her teammate Blake happily nomming on her mackerel. Upon noticing that she is getting strange looks Blake glares at the two team leaders, who laugh it off and go back to their conversation:

"But yeah, thanks for the clean-up." Yang smiles, picturing Cardinal's defeat in her head. "You can show me those losers covered in coffee mush anytime."

Coco shakes her head, and reverses Yang's opinion: "I should thank you. Thanks for standing up for Velvet. When we heard that a food fight broke out because Velvet got bullied we wanted to take care of the bullies ourselves, but it's nice to find some people willing to stand up for others. Team Coffee owes you one, kid."

"We're huntresses. Helping people is it's on reward." On the other hand, what would be wrong with a nice little reward. "Though it might be nice if we ended up with more than an empty bun."

Coco lets out a small laugh at Yang's pun, mainly because of what it means rather than the joke itself. "Yeah yeah, I'll think of something to pay you guys back. Now, it's best that we get out of here before-"

"Children!" In storms Glynda Goodwitch, using her semblance to restructure the cafeteria back to normal. "Please, do not play with your food."

"-she arrives." All three remaining teams realize that they're in trouble. Coco probably puts its best: "Ah, crap."

* * *

 **I don't really have anything to say here in this author's note, so let's go to the questions:**

 **Tclaw46:** _ **Can you not make any leadership changes in SCRP? I like that it's Weiss who is the leader instead of Ruby.  
**_ **Don't worry, Tclaw46, Weiss stays leader of SCRP for the entire story. I've got no intention of changing that.**

 **WeikWriter:** _ **Is Vernal lying with her story? It seems to just be a justifying story to get Yang on her side.  
**_ **The only lie Vernal told is that she's unaware of the Farvardin incident. Other than that, she's just omitting some important details. I mean, what strategic advantage would it give Vernal to tell Yang that her mother can essentially teleport? It would make most of her own arguments moot!**


	8. Chapter 1-End

"Stupid Weiss…" Several hours have passed since Ruby's fallout with her partner. Ruby avoided all the spots she usually visited, walking through the academy and the city itself to cool down. Her dinner was some simple fast food, bought from one of those stands that litter the corners of the Atlas' shopping centers. Now she has returned to the academy, sitting down on one of the benches that are placed in its hallways.

Thoughts of Weiss' failure keep recycling through Ruby's mind. Why did it go so wrong? Ruby can imagine several ways in which Weiss, no, anyone could've led the team to victory. A little order to Ciel there, a bit of teamwork here… perhaps it is hindsight talking, but victory didn't seem all that difficult. How could Weiss fail so much?

"Miss Rose."

A stern voice wakes Ruby up from her self-sustaining angry thoughts. Looking up she sees none other than the headmaster himself, giving his full attention to the angry scythe wielder!

"Headmaster Ironwood? What are you doing here?"

Ironwood cocks an eyebrow at that, before giving what in his eyes is the obvious answer: "I noticed an angry and depressed girl sitting alone on a bench. As you are a student of my school, it is my responsibility that your issues get handled."

"Aren't you supposed to be, y'know, doing other stuff? Bigger stuff, decisions that influence 'the whole of Atlas'?" Ruby exaggerates the last words at bit, emphasizing how important the role of Ironwood is supposed to be. Being both a headmaster and army general shouldn't leave you with a lot of time to solve the troubles of every student you come across, right?

"I have enough capable people under my command that can take over where necessary. It's not like I'm running the nation of Atlas all by myself, after all." The headmaster lets out a light chuckle, before returning to his more serious tone. "But enough about me. Tell me, what makes an optimistic student like you so angry?"

Ruby takes the chance to tell what happened, how during the practice match Weiss completely botched her leadership and turned what was supposed to be a victory into a loss. How Weiss is bossy without being effective and failed as a leader.

"Honestly, I think Flynt was right about Weiss, and maybe she did bribe her way to leadership."

Those words get Ironwood angry. His furious gaze indicates that if Ruby were a soldier, she would be forced to do a few hundred pushups as punishment for what she said. "Miss Rose, I assure you that we do not accept bribes for such frivolous matters, even if they come from the Schnee family itself."

"But Weiss-"

"Miss Schnee made a mistake, yes." Ironwood interrupts, not letting Ruby make another remark about her partner. "And that is completely normal. You are students, we don't expect you to already be perfect. You are here to learn, and failure is part of that process. What matters is how you deal with it."

Yeah, and getting angry and insulting obviously isn't the way. Ruby hangs her head in shame, pointing out her obvious failure: "I completely blew it, didn't I?"

"True." Ironwood does agree with Ruby, his tone of voice lighter and calmer than before. He sits down next to Ruby, putting one hand on the young girl's shoulder. "You made a mistake, just like miss Schnee. The question is what you're going to do about it."

"I'll go and apologize now…" Ruby is ready to go, but Ironwood keeps her down for a little longer, not satisfied with the answer.

"That solves the current problem yes. However, how are you going to deal with Weiss making another mistake in the future?"

"Not… get angry?" What else is there? Ruby already understands that she's wrong, but Ironwood is not satisfied with the answer. Ruby tries to imagine something else but comes up empty. It's up to the headmaster to explain is clearly:

"If she, no, if any of your team members makes a mistake, you support them. You overcome each other's faults together, as a team. So long as you are in Atlas Academy, you will never be alone. You will never need to be alone."

Ruby mulls over his words, before accepting the words of wisdom from his mouth. "Thanks, headmaster Ironwood."

He shrugs off the specialty of his support, claiming it is what he's supposed to do. "Now, one last thing before I go, but would this Flynt who claimed that miss Schnee committed bribery have the surname Coal?"

"Dark skin, black sunglasses, fancy black fedora?" Ruby doesn't remember more than the first name, so she describes the guy to the best of her ability. Ironwood confirms that it's the same Flynt they're talking about, claiming that he's going to need to have a good talk with the team leader of FNKI. With that Ruby is dismissed, allowing the girl to walk back towards her home.

It is a long and quiet stroll back to her dorm. The night is eerily quiet, nothing there to distract Ruby from the guilt she's feeling. It's getting late, late enough that most of her team is probably already sleeping. They're probably worried that Ruby hasn't come back yet. Well, Ciel and Penny might be, considering that they don't have as much of a reason to be angry like Weiss. Furthermore, Ruby completely ditched her cooking duties and left the rest of her team sans Penny go hungry for the day. Okay, they're probably still angry at Ruby, which they have the full right to be.

When Ruby stands before the western tower she sighs. She can still turn away, still flee from the oncoming awkward and painful situation…

But that would be wrong. Ruby promised herself she would become a huntress just like her mother. If she can't handle the consequences of her own actions how could she ever hope to become a heroic inspiration for others?

With resolution Ruby steps inside the west tower, into the lift that brings her to the sixth floor. There is room W602, her apartment. Weiss' apartment. Scorpio's apartment. Ruby can already see her teammates waiting there behind the door, angrily berating her on walking away and causing such a ruckus. With a small gulp Ruby holds her scroll over he keypad, unlocking the door and accepting whatever punishment awaits her.

Instead of angry teammates Ruby finds the room dimmed, most of the lights extinguished except for the small lamp on Weiss' desk. Underneath said lamp sits Weiss, reading something on her scroll while sipping from a mug of coffee. Upon hearing the door unlock she looks up from her scroll, her eyes interlocking with those of Ruby.

Ruby is bracing herself for an angry tirade, but instead sees Weiss give a look of relief. The first words out of the heiress' mouth are not scathing words, instead something far simpler:

"How did you want your coffee again?" Weiss pours in coffee in a new mug from the can she placed on her partner's desk. Upon hearing Ruby's reply of cream and five sugars Weiss rolls her eyes, murmuring sarcastically about how the team will be forced to spent most of their food budget on sugar cubes. She still makes the coffee exactly as Ruby wants it, using a spoon to stir everything together.

Ruby hasn't moved a step from the door, still surprised from Weiss unexpected question. A draught is entering from the doorway, the cold of Atlas slipping into the dorm. Weiss practically orders her partner to close the door and step inside to get the coffee, which Ruby does after a slight moment of hesitation. The coffee is nice and warm, a good way to unfreeze your hands after walking through the shivering nights of Altas. Ruby takes a small gulp of the brown brew, enjoying the warm sweet sensation in her mouth.

Ruby looks up from her coffee, right into Weiss' eyes. Yeah, nice as the coffee is, there is one thing that Ruby needs to do, one thing that she came here to do. Mentally steeling herself she utters the words to mend this partnership:

"I'm sorry!"

Ruby shouts out loud enough that it might wake up the other residents of this floor. However, the created noise was not purely her own. Startled Ruby noticed that she is not the only one who said those words. Weiss is also aware that her partner apologized just like she did, though with a much louder voice. Though Weiss wants to clarify her mistakes she lets Ruby explain first how she believes she made her wrongs:

Ruby talks about how she never should have said those mean words after the match, how she shouldn't have stayed out on the streets so long, how she shouldn't have abandoned cooking duty… "By the way, what did you guys eat?"

Weiss points towards the kitchen, where a large empty pizza box is stacked on top of the other old paper. "It was Ciel's idea. I never knew fast food like pizza tasted so good."

Ruby stifles a small laugh, somewhat intrigued by the thought of someone like Weiss gorging on a pizza. "Well, heh, pizza is pizza. It's pretty hard for it to not be good." Ruby realizes that she's not done with her story yet, and goes back to her apology: "So, yeah, I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. If it weren't for the headmaster helping me see my mistakes, I would probably still be angry and walking through the streets."

"Huh…" Weiss remarks, recognizing something similar in her story. She lets Ruby continue her apology, who ends it with a promise for the future:

"I won't get angry like this again, Weiss. We'll probably make many more mistakes, but I promise that I'll always have your back, no matter what."

Weiss smiles upon hearing those words and accepts Ruby's apology. "Though, we're not done here. While it's true that your actions were deplorable it doesn't deny that I made several mistakes today as well. I believe I owe you an explanation."

Weiss recalls what she went through earlier that day, bringing Ruby with her during a flashback of her own evening:

 _An angry Weiss is walking through the hallways of Atlas academy at an aggressive pace. She needs some time to cool off, to recollect herself and come to a satisfying conclusion for how to deal with that immature partner of hers._

 _Argh, that Ruby! Why did she have to act so bratty? One loss, one of the slightest mistakes of the team was enough to make her go into an angry tirade. What kind of person has such a short temper to nitpick about the smallest of things at even the tiniest failure? Ugh, this is truly unbelievable!_

 _As Scorpio's team leader continues to stomp through Atlas Academy, she suddenly gets distracted when someone calls her name:_

" _Weiss!" The female voice, stern and commanding, can only belong to one person the heiress knows off. Immediately she straightens her posture, greeting her sister with the grace and perfection of a Schnee._

" _Winter. To what do I owe this pleasure?"_

 _The specialist walks next to her sister, matching strides so they continue walking next to each other. Weiss looks somewhat hopeful, but the emotionless, almost angry visage of Winter does not spell much good._

" _I have been made aware of… complications within your team, as well as a team leader apparently unable to solve this crisis by herself. As I was in the area, I decided to take some time to evaluate. So, talk."_

 _Weiss gives a short summary of what happened today: "It all started this morning when we met those leaders of teams Jade and Funky. Those brutes insulted our family name various times. How our father hires assassins to eliminate competition, and that I'm only in this academy because of bribery."_

" _I believe you should know how to deal with such slander by now."_

 _Weiss almost scoffs at that, ridiculing the idea that Winter has even the slightest notion of her being unable to deal with something as petty as a random person's insults. "Of course. Prove their words wrong with our actions, I don't need that lecture twice." Weiss continues with her story, skipping most of the day to go right to the crux:_

" _During combat sessions our team fought team Regal, and we barely lost. It is understandable that some of us felt frustrated, but my partner, Ruby, got mad and called me a terrible leader!" Weiss lets her anger rise during this talk with Winter, who allows her younger sister to let her emotions flow for once. "Then Ruby said that I bribed my way to the leadership position, just like Flynt did, before running away! She's supposed to be my teammate, my partner! Why did she betray me like that?"_

 _Weiss story contains multiple arguments and views. Winter agrees with some of the points brought up by her little sister, but this is not a place for the specialist to stroke Weiss' ego. Instead she decides to focus on one seemingly unimportant point that caught her fancy:_

" _Team Regal, yes." Winter begins to think, to remember the information she has from when she was asked to participate in judging the individuals and composition for RGAL, SCRP, CROT and JZME. "I am aware of their abilities. I assume you tried to utilize Wolff's low aura level and Greene's overreliance on her semblance against them. Given the capabilities of team Regal you would send Rose and Polendina to take down Wolff with their speed while Soleil takes care of Greene with her superior hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile you would keep Bates and Byre busy with the supportive capabilities of our semblance."_

" _That's…" completely correct. It is a perfect description of Weiss' plan, down to the letter. "How did you know?"_

" _Obviously because it's the best plan you could make given your knowledge of the enemy and yourselves."_

" _If the plan's so good, then why did it fail?" Weiss asks, getting slightly angry that Winter doesn't seem to provide a good answer either._

" _Because it is so good that it becomes utterly predictable, you boob! I am certain that Bates fully expected you to perform this tactic and acted accordingly."_

 _Oh. Well. Huh. That Weiss did not see coming. With that response coming out of left field she has no idea what she should've done then, which is what she asks of her sister. "I don't think I should utilize a lesser plan from the beginning, right?"_

" _Obviously, you implement both." Winter's solution doesn't exactly sound logical from Weiss point of view, not understanding how to utilize two different plans at the same time. Luckily for Weiss her older sister is perfectly willing to provide an explanation: "You can't win a fight if you only stick to a single plan, even if it is the best anyone could imagine. This is one of the first lessons I learned during my time as an Atlas specialist. Do you remember what happened during the White Fang's attack on Argus?"_

 _It's deep in Weiss memory, but she can recollect it: "You were expecting the terrorists to attack at night since they have night vision. Instead those animals attacked by day, as soon as your team landed on the continent of Anima."_

" _Yes. The commander's plan would've given us a bloodless victory if they attacked during the night. Instead we won with a risky tactic scrapped together at the last minute in desperation." The shorter sister begins to see where Winter is going with this, as the older one puts the lesson into clear words: "Weiss, no plan survives contact with the enemy. That's why you always have backup plans to fall back on, even if they must be made on the spot. Sticking to a single plan is foolish."_

 _Winter's lesson makes sense. Yeah, Weiss was in the wrong here. She did something wrong, and she paid for it with a loss. The only positive is that the flaw in Weiss' tactics has been found this early in her huntress career._

" _Thank you, Winter." Weiss bows politely to her sister, grateful for the advice. "I have seen my mistake and its consequences. I will work hard to make sure that I master this skill and become another step closer to be the perfect team leader."_

 _Weiss suddenly gets a smack to the head from her sister, who admonishes the heiress on her false assumptions: "If that is your answer to my lesson, then it is clear that you have not learned a thing."_

 _Rubbing the bump on her head Weiss asks what else she was missing. Winter is of course willing to help her little sister, hoping that she can find the problem by herself. "Weiss, define the purpose of a team leader."_

" _Of course." Weiss explains just how she sees what a team leader is: "The leader of the team; the one who leads everyone both in combat and outside of it; the one who tells everyone what to do during a fight; The one who makes sure that the team stays together as one; The one who makes sure everyone learns together to become the best they can be; The one who inspires her team to follow her example; ehm…" Weiss tries to wreck her brain, trying to imagine even more of the burdens that come with her responsibility. Winter sees Weiss train of thought, and has one word for it:_

" _Wrong!" Harshly Weiss ideas gets rejected. Not a single point that Weiss made is correct, according to Winter. "A team leader has one task, and one task only: To make sure that she appoints the person best suited to each task. That, and nothing else."_

" _But I already do that! I made up a schedule for the household chores, a list for the non-mandatory classes each of us follows…"_

" _And how about the points you named before? Do you do them because you are the best at them amongst your group or do you do them because you believe that is what a leader should do?"_

" _I…" Winter has a point, but Weiss is not willing to let her ideal and dream get shot down so easily. "Of course! That is why I have been deemed team leader by headmaster Ironwood, correct?"_

 _Winter doesn't even deign that worthy of a response, instead giving a frown so harsh that it makes Weiss quail. Calmly but sternly she lectures Weiss on her problem: "There is no shame in admitting that someone is better than you. There is only shame in not utilizing your team to the best of their ability. If you only want to use the physical capabilities of your team then we might as well replace your teammates with a platoon of Android Knights."_

" _Suppose I agree with your point." Weiss is still in disagreement, but she can't just rudely say no, or she would get some hellish rebuke from her sister. Weiss tries to go about her point in a roundabout way for that reason. "Then what do you suppose I should delegate to my team members?"_

 _Winter smirks lightly, willing to help her sister get rid of one of her biggest flaws: "Let us start with the obvious one: Weiss, as a Schnee you have been trained from an early age to plan on a grand-strategic level, all so you could one day take over the company. Now you utilize those skills to create strategies for your fights as a huntress."_

 _Weiss smiles at the compliment, taking it with pride. "Of course. As a Schnee, I've been taught to always strife for perfection. With my knowledge and intelligence, I can create the best strategies for my team!"_

" _The problem is that you waste time thinking how to create the best plan. You may only need five minutes to create a masterful plan, out on the battlefield you won't even have five seconds!" That shakes Weiss confidence, as Winter continues to break down Weiss' skills. "What you need in the field is not intelligence, but instinct. Instinct you lack because you've never have been in a real fight before Atlas Academy, unlike Rose or Soleil. Even during your practice against my summoned Grimm there was no danger as you could stop the fight just by uttering my name."_

" _Then what?" Weiss utters in disbelief, trying to make some sense of Winter's words. "Should I let someone else make the plans and take the lead? I'm certain that none of them can makes plans like I do!"_

" _Of course not. You are correct that you are the most capable strategist on your team by far. There is no reason for you to let some else do so. However, you are not the most capable person to realize those strategies. I would recommend that you delegate the field tactics to someone more capable and experienced on your team."_

" _I… understand." Weiss hangs her head low, defeated in spirit. She promises to delegate the role of tactician to one of her teammates, just as Winter wants to._

"So, you're going to let Ciel take care of the battle tactics?" Ruby asks in the middle of Weiss' recollection, getting an exasperated look from Weiss who cannot believe the obliviousness of her partner.

"No, you dolt. I'm talking about you. I'm making you this team's tactician!"

"Me, the tactician?" Flustered by this idea Ruby tries to deny it, claiming that she's not worthy: "B-But, I'm only fifteen! And besides, I know I can be pretty reckless an-"

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss says slightly too loud, possibly waking up the other teammates, "You are better than you think you are, and I suppose I was too proud to admit that. When I asked my sister who should lead in the field her answer was you:"

" _Though I somewhat loathe to admit it, your partner does possess the skills necessary for the job."_

 _Weiss cannot believe that, her words suddenly a lot louder and emotional then she usually uses when talking to Winter. "Ruby? She's a kid who can barely hold a conversation without embarrassing herself! Winter, I am somewhat skeptical of giving her such an important task."_

 _Weiss' concerns are noted, which is why Winter needs to grab her scroll to look up all the arguments she needs to make her sister understand her point. "You may not know this, but I was one of the people who helped judge the initiation of teams Carrot, Jasmine,_ Regal _and Scorpio." Weiss did somewhat expect that, given how her sister oversaw border control during initiation, but it's still somewhat of a surprise to have it confirmed. "The other three groups had a near-anonymous choice of leader. However, Scorpio was split almost evenly between you and your partner, slightly edged in your favor."_

" _What?" Weiss can't believe that! She and Ruby, almost equal when it came to the position of team leader? "That can't be right."_

" _It is. Let us review your initiation to show how you were judged on leadership capability."_

 _Moment after moment gets recollected, some of them in favor of a team led by Weiss, others in favor of Ruby's leadership. One theme throughout was shown very clearly to Weiss, and that is that Weiss plans only worked because of Ruby: Weiss came up with the idea to sneak to Mantle, Ruby enforced it by coming up with a way to avoid the military; Weiss planned the fight with the three Atlesian platoons, but Ruby took over when the Spider Droid appeared; Weiss came up with the concert to prevent Winter from attacking and Ruby made it work by sending team SLVR to fight for them; In other words, Weiss made the strategies that Ruby enhanced with tactics._

" _A team with both a capable strategist and a capable tactician. Which makes a better leader for a huntsmen team? Personally, I believe that at your level of operations a tactician has more utility. The general assembly thought otherwise, hence your promotion to team leader."_

 _That is a sudden downer for Weiss. To learn that your own sister considered someone a better leader is not good for one's confidence._

" _Then I…" Weiss words are filled with hesitation, unsure what to do. With her for a loss it takes Winter to fill the rest of her words in:_

" _-should strive to be the best leader you can be and make your team the best they can be. That is the responsibility you were given. Atlas will give your team many burdens and difficulties, and it is as a team that you need to overcome them. I believe that if you lead Scorpio correctly, it will not be difficult to succeed."_

" _Yes… I see." Weiss resigns herself to Winter's advice, accepting the path she must take to success. "Thank you for this lesson, Winter."_

 _Winter gives a genuine smile at her younger sister, happy to see that the new team leader has overcome another hurdle of life. "Move along now, Weiss. I believe you have other business to attend to."_

 _Weiss smiles back, glad that her sister was here to help her understand and set her on the path to becoming a truly great leader. "Indeed, sister dearest. I wish you the very best with your future endeavors." Both sisters go their own way: One back to Ironwood to discuss stratagems for the good of Atlas, and the other goes to mend the relations within her own team._

"Do you see now? Ruby, you have the potential to be an amazing tactician. With my strategies and your tactics, Scorpio will be unstoppable!"

"I… I guess." Ruby still isn't too sure about it, but if Weiss says so… "I mean, I can try?" Who knows, it might work out fine. It also probably means that Ruby needs to work even harder to bear this responsibility, which is less fine. However, a selfish reason like that won't stop Ruby, because this isn't for herself. This is for Weiss, Penny and Ciel. This is for Scorpio.

"Good." Both sides seem ready to finish off this tumultuous day, though there is one variable that hasn't been brought up:

"Oh yeah, one more thing!" Weiss remembers one more point brought up by her sister, translating it to an order for her partner: "You're not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverage as long as you're a part of team Scorpio. Is that understood?"

"Uhm… okay?" That came a bit out of left field, but sure? Ruby doesn't even like the taste of the stuff her uncle is drinking, so this is not a problem. "So… we're friends again?"

"Of course, you dolt."

Both girls smile at each other, happy that their broken friendship has finally healed. The Schnee-Rose duo is back in business!

"Phenomenal!" The startled SR duo look towards the kitchen door, where Penny is standing with a smile on her face. "It appears that the other duo of our team has managed to make amends."

"It is an improvement for our team, yes." The bathroom opens too to reveal Ciel, dressed in blue silken nightwear. Letting out a yawn she looks rather tired, as if wanting to go to bed as soon as possible.

In surprise Ruby asks what her two teammates are doing, having thought before that only Weiss was still up. "Penny? Ciel? You're still awake?" In hindsight, that's only logical, considering that Ruby saw noone inside of the beds.

Penny reminds Ruby about the fact that no, she doesn't require sleep. It's also why she is still dressed in her usual fashion instead of wearing something easy to sleep in. Ciel doesn't have her partner's excuse but claims that she couldn't exactly leave the bathroom and go to bed when two of her teammates were having such an important talk. A guilty Ruby tries to laugh it off, though Ciel doesn't hold it against her.

"You made up." Ciel basically summarizes everything that has been said in three words and giving her opinion on it with the fourth: "Good."

"What did you hear?" Ruby asks in wonder, not all too happy that this sappy moment between her and Weiss was caught.

"Everything onwards from the simultaneous 'I'm sorry'." Penny confirms Ruby's fear bluntly and is about to make it worse: "If necessary, I can produce a recording of this conversation."

Ruby recoils a bit from having the things she just said made public in her team, but Weiss takes the opportunity to check how well her other two teammates have been listening. When Penny provides a detailed summary of what transpired Weiss knows that she doesn't need to explain twice, so she just says the most important thing to make sure the entire team knows:

"Then let us make this official. Ruby Rose, from now on you will be team Scorpio's tactician. Of course, I expect nothing but the best of you. Do you accept this position?"

The answer is clear and resolute: "Yes. I do."

Ruby's choice creates pleased smiles amongst the Scorpio. It is perhaps the best solution the team could've asked for. Though normally more stoic Ciel does want to let out some celebratory shout in Ruby's honor, so with a few simple words she does: "To our new tactician. May she lead us well."

Weiss does not fully agree, and counters with the truth. "Don't think I'm letting you two out of this. I'm certain that I can find tasks where it is better to let one of you two lead, and I will let that person take command then."

"And if our leader can't, then the tactician will find you a job!" Ruby shouts out, giving the serious talk a lighter mood. Everyone smiles, the bonds between them stronger than ever. Ciel puts it best when it comes to Scorpio's future:

"Whatever we do, we do it together."

The other three fully agree, all of them saying the most important word of that sentence as one:

"Together." Weiss, Ciel, Ruby and Penny. Four girls on the path to become true huntresses. The path will be difficult, but so long as they're together they will succeed!

…

"Can we finally go to sleep?" Ciel notes dryly before letting out a yawn.

"Oh please, yes." "Absolutely." Weiss and Ruby can feel that whatever was energizing their body until they made up disappear, a wave of tiredness and fatigue flowing over them. It's time for them to get to bed. They must get up early tomorrow and school doesn't wait for anyone.

* * *

A day or two has passed since the massive food fight. While Glynda was understandably furious with the kids her anger subsided somewhat when she learned about Cardinal's actions. Yes, everyone else's punishment was light compared to Cardinal's week-long detention:

One day of kitchen shift for each of the three teams of the pro-faunus alliance. JNPR's turn was yesterday, VYBA finished off their shift today and tomorrow CFVY will have to help serve lunch to the student body. Honestly, the worst part of it all was that Yang needed to wear that stupid hair net to keep her magnificent mane out of the food.

Now it's night, and Vibrant is ready to go to bed. Yang has already slipped in her orange tank top and black shorts. She's ready to go to sleep, were it not for a little bit of noise outside of her room.

Yang decides to check it out, having nothing better to do then sleep. Down in the hallway she sees Jaune sitting against the door of his team's room, head down in his hands.

"Sup, bunny boy? Don't tell me that you've locked yourself out of your room?" Because if he did, Yang will laugh. Loudly. Those who're already asleep be damned, that would be too funny to pass up.

Jaune tells Yang that no, he does have his scroll to unlock the door with. When Yang asks why Jaune is out here he gets a bit more fidgety. With slight hesitation he admits just how badly he messed up:

"I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin got me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to m-"

"Oh, so that's why you've been acting like Cardin's puppy!" Yang interrupts, getting some closure on a question she had thus far unanswered. Jaune gives a wry smile, admitting that he's been whipped by that gang. With a deep sigh he lets out his frustration, telling Yang just how he feels about himself. How much he sucks; how bad he is as a huntsman; and most of all his biggest worry, the one that he cannot bury in the depts of his minds no matter how he tries:

"I'm a failure as a leader."

"Welcome to the club." Yang sits down against the wall of her own dorm room, right opposite of the other leader. It's made clear to Jaune that he isn't the only one with doubt about their own abilities, something he doesn't quite understand in the case of Yang:

"You… don't think you're a good leader? But you're so… you know, awesome! You're strong, and nice, and charismatic, and… well, really badass!"

Yang does agree that she's a pretty swell fighter, but she isn't exactly the miss Perfect that Jaune imagines her to be: "Nah, I'm just a trill seeker. I live for some fun and a good fight. The only reason I became a huntress is because I can get what I want by becoming a huntress. Go to the academy, get into a fun team and kick ass. That was what I planned. Then comes Ozpin and suddenly decides to make me the team leader. Me!"

"That… doesn't automatically make you a bad team leader, in my opinion."

"Jaune, my tactics consist out of punching someone, punching harder and maybe shooting someone when they're too far to be punched. Compared to Blake, Ilia or hell, even Vernal, why would Ozpin make a reckless idiot like me the team leader?"

Jaune laughs at that, though it's more in self-depreciation. "Well, at least you're not me. I'm probably the weakest student to attend this school in years! I need the rest of my team to carry me during fights, nor am I particularly smart. Why am I even here?"

"To get your ass whipped by Cardin?" Yang jokes, getting a sarcastic laugh from Jaune. Still, she does have a better opinion of Juniper's leader than he himself does: "But seriously, you're selling yourself short. Sure, you're a crappy fighter, and someone I wouldn't want as a teammate… but you're actually a pretty good leader."

"Wha-" That something Jaune can't believe. Him, a good leader? Considering everything that happened thus far he's terrible at whatever he does.

"Remember the fight with the deathstalker? I just went in on a rampage. You looked around, helped when someone was in trouble, and when you saw there were beowolves incoming you led Ren and Ilia to prevent us from getting surrounded. You stayed level-headed and created a plan, like a leader should."

"No!" Juniper's leader disagrees completely. Now it's Jaune's turn to name examples of why Yang is a better leader: "Who brought Vibrant together to help us with the deathstalker? Who led us against Cardinal during the food fight? You're strong, driven, charismatic and inspiring. You're like Ultraman, a superhero who brings his team together to do good!"

"Pfft…" Yang lets out a chuckle at that, hearing Jaune suddenly bring up a comic book character in a serious discussion like this. "I had almost forgotten you're a complete dork, bunny boy!"

Jaune complains that it was very fitting regarding the subject, which only makes Yang laugh more. After a second of five Yang tries to be serious again, but this time she has a smile on her face as the conversation became significantly lighter in tone. Jaune even comes up with an upbeat conclusion:

"Hey, maybe we aren't such terrible team leaders. We were just so busy looking at what we're bad at that we didn't notice what we're good at."

"Eh, I suppose you have a point. Though, we can both be better leaders then we currently are. I need to get calmer and wiser…"

"…and I need to get stronger and charming." Jaune fills in naturally, the wavelengths of his brain on a similar frequency as that of his fellow leader. Said fellow leader lets out a small chuckle, thinking that the 'charming' part of Jaune is a hopeless cause. However, when it comes to getting stronger, then Yang might be just the person he needs!

"You wanna spar sometime? I think I can help you get stronger, give you a few pointers… we did learn about other fighting styles back at signal, and I knew someone who used a sword and shield like you do."

A grateful Jaune thanks Yang for the possibility, intending to take her up on it. "Well, after I refused Pyrrha's offer I suppo-"

Yang stares wide-eyed at that stupidity of Jaune, unable not to interrupt the idiotic words coming out of her fellow team leader's mouth: "You get offered free sparring with probably the only person my age that's a better fighter than me? Bunny Boy, I bet there's people willing to pay in blood for that opportunity, and you said no to that."

Jaune nods and reminds Yang about what he said at the beginning of the conversation. "That thing I did I shouldn't have? It's why Pyrrha doesn't really want to talk to me."

Yang stays silent for a moment, before smirking at Jaune. Maybe she can at least solve one of his problems by going at it with reckless abandon: "Sounds to me like it's time for team Juniper to make up!"

Before Jaune can respond Yang stands up and looms over Jaune, grinning evilly. Grabbing Jaune with one arm she effortlessly throws the guy over her shoulder, carrying him around while he meaninglessly struggles against Yang's plan.

Yang busts open the door to Juniper's dorm, startling the three members of Juniper inside. "Hello~! I've got a delivery for team Juniper!"

"Yang! Lemme go!" An embarrassed Jaune tries to struggle against Yang's hold, but he realizes it is futile. Yang places him back on his two feet, directly gazing into the rest of his team. "Ehm… hi?"

"Hi Jaune!" Nora greets enthusiastically, just like usual. The other two are more reserved. One because he's always like that, but the other is still angry with the yellow fellow. "Where have you been?"

"Oh… well… uhm…" Caught by Nora's surprising question, as well as Yang's orders, Jaune decides to spill the beans: "I have been a bit too much on my own lately. I mean, I've been away from the team for a day or two, not really talked to any of you, I was ignorant… and I'm sorry for that."

Nora, endless bundle of activity and joy, immediately forgives her leader. Ren doesn't hold Jaune's past transgressions against him either. Pyrrha on the other hand does not accept his apology so easily. There is still something missing, something that has only been told thus far to Pyrrha herself. "Jaune, isn't there something else you should tell your team?"

"I-But-You! Pyrrha?" With stuttering and muttering Jaune somehow manages to make clear that he really doesn't want to talk about this subject. This is in Jaune's opinion something that is supposed to stay between him and his partner, with the less people who know about it the better. Pyrrha's disappointment in Jaune is clear, monotonously tapping with her foot as she gives Jaune the evil eye.

It's enough to make her partner crack. With a sigh Jaune prepares himself to admit the truth to the rest of Juniper. Looking Yang straight in the eye he points towards the door, Yang catching on to what her fellow team leader wants. Yep, Yang goes back to the entrance and makes sure that nobody can hear the Arc's confession.

Upon hearing the door close Jaune proceeds to tell the truth to his team. "I… my transcripts into Beacon… they were faked. I don't belong here."

"You cheated your way into Beacon, bunny boy?" From behind team Juniper Yang call her fellow leader out in astonishment. "I mean, I know you're bad at fighting, but you didn't even go to preparatory school?"

"Yang?" Jaune looks surprised, like he didn't expect her to still be here. "Why are you still here?"

Yang looks shocked that Jaune asks that question. "Why would I not?"

"Because I asked you to leave the room just now!"

"All you did was ask me to close the door!" Matter of fact, all he did was point at the door, something that Ren clarifies:

"You didn't exactly make clear what you wanted, Jaune."

"I… you…" Jaune tries to think up of a retort but he stays empty-mouthed. He gives up with a groan of frustration, claiming that "This is all going wrong!". It's hard not to feel bad for him, even though this situation is kind of his own fault to begin with. Yang really hopes that everything will turn out okay for him.

"Yang, I believe it's time for you to go." Pyrrha's calm tone belies the stern, motherly tone of an angry parent. "This is something that's between the members of team Juniper. I'm sure you won't tell anyone about Jaune's secret, right?"

Those last words contain a hint of venom that prove that the Mistral ace is willing to go very far for the members of her team. While Yang would love to get in a fight with the Pyrrha Nikos, this is not the right time nor the right place. With a quick goodbye Yang leaves the scene, hoping that Juniper can solve this problem. Because if they can't, then they're totally screwed.

The next day all normal lessons for the freshmen have been skipped, and instead they go on a field trip to the north of Vale in Forever Fall.

Forever Fall, called so for its maple trees that thanks to Vale's mild climate are always colored red. The red leaves are slowly shed for new leaves, causing a small trickle of falling leaves during the entire year.

"Beautiful…"

Even though there's a logical reason for this place it still baffles the mind of Yang, to walk through a autumnal landscape even though it's only spring. Eyes filled with wonder scry over the place, baffled at this landscape that seems to contradict nature. Her team on the other hand is a lot less impressed with nature, all three of them calmly walking through the forest together with the other teams.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." Professor Goodwitch, leader of the field trip, uses Yang's murmured opinion to start explaining today's goal: "But, we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked you to collect samples from deep within the forest, and I am here to make sure none of you die doing so."

Right… "samples". Yang has only had a single lesson from their biology professor so far, but she knows enough that there's probably very little ways you can utilize tree juice for scientific purposes. Most likely the sap they will collect will be used to stock up Beacon's supply of maple syrup, which she did notice was running low given how Nora yammered about Ren being unable to make his syrupy pancakes.

"Each of you is to gather one jar of red sap each. However, this forest is full of the creatures of grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!"

With those words Goodwitch leaves the teams alone. Yang is fully expecting that the two sister teams of Vibrant and Juniper collect sap together. Well, seven of them, excluding JNPR's leader: Jaune joined up with team Cardinal, somewhat expected considering how Cardin knows the truth about Jaune.

Ilia had been carrying the bag containing everything they need for today. She hands out two jars to Yang and Vernal, a well as the tap and drill. The team continue to walk forward for a while, before Yang realizes that she's still missing one thing.

"Hang on, guys, where's the hammer?" Yang expects that Ilia will also hand over the last tool, were it not for one problem:

Half of team Vibrant is missing. Where did Ilia and Blake go?

Vernal quickly gets attended to this problem as well, as she cannot find the rest of her team either. The duo says goodbye to the rest of team Juniper, as finding their teammates is more important than staying with your friends. Yang and Vernal track back along the way they came, shouting "Ilia" and "Blake" in hope of a response.

After half an hour Vernal gives up, done with this search. "We're not going to find them, Yang."

"But what if they've got lost?" Sure, they can probably survive out here for some time, but there's no reason to make Glynda worried with missing students.

"We were walking at a slow pace. If they can't keep up with that, they shouldn't try to be huntresses in the first place."

Point taken. Knowing that the rest of her team is probably safe Yang tries to think of a reason those two are gone:

"Think they are with friends?"

"They have friends outside of our group?" Vernal asks the question Yang thought of as well but wasn't rude enough to actually say out loud. Yang agrees that it does seem rather unlikely, but hey, who knows? Hmm, there is one more possibility Yang can think of:

"Oh, maybe one of them is meeting their secret lover?"

Vernal snorts at the idea and thinks that it's more likely those two snuck out for a session between the two of them. Both partners chuckle at that, a small moment of fun before Yang must make the decision: Keep searching, or gather the sap?

The latter is quickly settled upon, as Vernal spots a good sugar maple from which to extract the sap. In a single fluid move the Branwen drills a hole in the tree, while Yang hammers the tap into the tree with Ember Celica. Sap starts to flow from the tree, and without missing a beat Vernal starts to fill the first jar, making sure not to spill any of the sap.

Yang lets out a whistle at her partner's skill. "Not bad. You've been doing this before?"

Vernal lets out a genuine smile for once, memories of nostalgia flooding her mind. "Back when I was younger the tribe would take the kids to gather food in the forest. Berries, vegetables, tree sap…"

Huh. That's a surprisingly normal childhood for a nomad. Yang imagined a more spartan, do-or-die life that would explain why her partner is a stick-up-the-butt. Forced to outrun a chasing grimm; Not given any food other than that what you scavenge or steal on your own; Dropped in a cage with other kids and forced to fight each other to the death; That is what she expected. To hear that Vernal had a relatively normal childhood is… odd. Perhaps some people are just destined to be jerks.

"I've made some pretty good childhood memories with Raven. I'm sure that you've done the same with your mother. Oh wait…" Vernal starts to smirk evilly, working hard to rile up her partner. It's working, because she just proved to Yang that Vernal is absolutely destined to be a jerk!

Yang is doing her utmost not to fly in a tantrum, now willing to let her rage take control of her. She cannot get angry here, that is just what Vernal wants. Control yourself, control yourself-

*Splat*

The sound of something sticky crashing into Yang's back distracts her from Vernal's mean words. Yang has a bad feeling about this. Running a finger through the affected area she notices that part of her hair is covered in sticky purple goo, something that feels and smells very familiar to the sap they're gathering right now.

Looking to her side Yang sees Vernal looking in disdain at her pants, which became collateral damage from the sap attack on Yang.

"Vernal." Yang asks half in worry and in anger, "How do you get tree sap out of your hair?"

It's when Yang sees Vernal look down that her worry increases even more. Vernal's words practically confirm it:

"About as well as bubblegum. Your hair is in the same condition as my pants, completely useless for any social events."

At those words something snapped in Yang. Her thoughts, once at least somewhat eloquent, were now replaced with "burn", "revenge", "destroy" and "kill". Whomever looked at Yang would notice a golden aura of flames surrounding the team leader of Vibrant, the licks of flame increasing your temperature just by looking at them. With a primal cry she runs in the direction of the perpetrators, while Vernal lets out a smirk.

The perpetrators are team Cardinal and Jaune, located at some elevated clearing a dozen meters away from the tapped tree. Who exactly threw the bottle doesn't matter to Yang, they will all pay!

The blonde's anger doesn't go unnoticed by the guys. Sky and Russel want to back out of the prank as fear takes over their bodies, yet Cardin continues. Grabbing the box filled with razor wasps he opens the lid as far away from himself as he can, letting the nectars in the tree sap do the rest.

To give credit to Jaune, he did manage to collect an entire nest of razor wasps. The razor wasp, an insect with a wing span of around 3 inches and a venomous stinger that might even be lethal to small cats. They're less capable of killing people unless they're allergic to the venom, but to gather such a large amount must've hurt even if you have a large pool of aura. Cardin sets the wasps free, attracted to the sweet nectars within the sap on Yang's hair.

Like swift death the swarm flies at the huntress, hoping to obtain enough of the sap to use as nectar for their hive. That they must sting this human girl is secondary, even if it will cost a few of them their lives. Nobly the insects charge, some to distract with their stingers and others to collect the juicy goods. For the sake of their queen they will take down this human!

With a single shotgun-boosted punch Yang incinerates the wasps, completely disregarding this childish revenge prank unleashed by Cardin. Though, considering that he's seemingly behind this prank he will suffer first.

Cardinal is not stupid, realizing that they're going to have to deal with an angry Yang. Of course, he came up with some measure of defense. His team is standing on an elevation compared to Yang's position, and they've had enough time to draw their weapons. Even if Jaune is a pussy he still has his own team behind him. Ordering them to stand in a wide line next to him with their weapons at the ready they stand up to the pissed blond, taunting her to further unsettle her.

"I'll admit that you're strong, Blondie." Cardin smirks, looking around to see his flunkies sans Jaune smirking with him. "But just two days ago it took your entire team and Jauney-boy's teams to beat us. Do you honestly think you can beat us all?"

A sudden loud crash causes Cardinal plus Jaune to look in the direction of the noise. Well, most of Cardinal, as the noise is Dove crashing through a series of trees. While his aura took the brunt of the damage the sudden unexpected g-forces were enough to blank out his mind, sending the gunsword-wielder of Cardinal straight into unconsciousness. In the place where Dove was standing before is now a very angry-looking Yang, who only has one answer for the big bad idiot:

"Yes."

Dove's takedown is the limit for Sky and Russel. The two partners may be the worst fighters of their team, they're at least smart enough to know when to bail. Yang lets them run away, putting her focus on the two biggest sore spots in her mind.

Cardin. Jaune. Someone is going to pay. Assessing the situation makes it clear that the most direct threat is the beefcake, who swings his mace downwards at the blonde monster. It proves to be ineffective, as Yang catches the handle of the weapon mid-flight. Cardin can only let out a yelp of fear before a full-powered blast of Ember Celica sends him flying through the woods.

One down. One to go.

Yang turns to the wielder of Crocea Mors, a sword that is still in the sheath of its cowering master. He obviously realized how screwed he is, so he decided to utilize pity as his weapon. Head down, eyes looking up, hands in pocket, shoulders up, head slightly tilted, all to convey shy vulnerability.

Jaune's puppy-dog eyes are effective… slightly. While Yang's still angry enough that her eyes are as red as blood her hair did lose some of its blazing luster. Jaune doesn't have to worry about being beaten into a pulp anymore, as he just gets a wave of insults thrown over him:

"Jaune, I've had it with your spineless cowardice!" Jaune meekly accepts those words, agreeing with his fellow blonde about his own incompetence. This only seems to make Yang angrier, so it's time for Yang to do something about it. "You, Jaune, are either going to man up, or going home!"

"W-What do you mean?"

"It's quite simple." Yang has a little sadistic plan in mind as payback for her hair, which will either empower Jaune or send him home like a little bitch. "Either you're beating up Cardin right here, right now, or I'm telling Goodwitch about your transcripts."

"Wha-You can't! Not that!" One look in Yang's eyes is enough to know that no, she can, and no, these terms aren't negotiable. Jaune has two choices left. Fight Cardin and pray for a miracle or give up and lose the dream of ever becoming a huntsman. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Meanwhile Cardin has come to a standstill against one of the maple trees. His aura protected him from the more harmful aspects of Yang's punch, his crash through several trees only taking somewhat more than half of his aura. Okay, damn, that was painful. Yang seems to be a lot more powerful then she was two days ago, and it's probably not because she wields an actual weapon instead of turkeys. As he stands up and goes back to the clearing he sees Jaune bravely wielding his sword and shield. The only problem is that those weapons are not aimed at blondie, but at Cardin instead!

"The hell are you doing, Jauney-boy? You know the consequences of facing me."

It's undeniable that Jaune is afraid of facing Cardin. Yet he still stands there, resolute, ready to fight Cardin as if his life depends on it. "I think you don't know me as well as you think you do. I fear Yang more then I fear you."

"Then you've made a mistake! You should've feared me more!"

An enraged Cardin charges at Jaune, who is now reviewing how to deal with his bully:

On the positive side, Jaune has a lot more aura. Cardin lost about half his aura from Yang's punch, while Jaune has a massive amount that is still unblemished. On the downside, that's also the only thing Jaune has the advantage in.

Cardin comes swinging in with a heavy overhead strike. Seeing no other defense Jaune uses his shield to block, causing the blonde to be tossed like a ragdoll over the battlefield. Jaune is doing better then two days ago during combat practice, when a similar attack made him drop his shield. This time he is still wielding Crocea Mors in its entirety, giving him some hope that maybe he can win this!

The hope is quickly dashed as he sees Cardin attack again, his anger stopping him from gloating like he usually does. Jaune quickly stumbles on his feet, ready to defend against his enemy.

Mighty swings threaten to strike down on Jaune, who is barely able to keep his ground. His blocks, parries, dodges; They're third-rate, the work of an amateur. The only thing keeping Jaune alive is that Cardin's heavy fighting style is more suited to crashing grimm, its lack of speed giving the blonde some respite.

That doesn't mean the situation is not worsening. Every blow resonates through his shield, the vibrations making his arm feel like jelly. How many blows can he still block? Two? Three? No, Jaune can't take this much longer. After one lucky dodge Jaune decides to take matters into his own hands. Jaune swings his sword at Cardin's body, which gets easily blocked by the bigger, stronger enemy. Already Cardin is trying to overpower Jaune, so the blonde attacks again, and again. The bully blocks the strikes with ease.

Jaune starts to attack more, and more, and more. Panic and desperation fuel Jaune's sword, hoping to land a good strike on the bully. The difference in skill makes Cardin evade every single strike, the half-baked moves of Jaune unable to threaten him in any way. For Jaune that doesn't matter. Keep attacking, keep attacking. If you stay on the offensive, then the opponent won't have time to attack, right?

A sharp pain puts doubt on Jaune's theory. Cardin took a minor blow to deliver a knee to the gut, making Jaune keel over in pain. Cardin doesn't waste any time and kicks Jaune as he's down. Cardin kicks Jaune like he's kicking a puppy, with the intend to make sure the sad thing can never stand up again!

Jaune protects his vitals from getting hurt, his aura not dropping as quickly as it could. Still, the disorienting pain and numbing of his body prevent him from doing anything about the continuous attacks. As it stands his aura will break, and he will be as black and blue as the night sky itself.

While Cardin's anger does stop his gloating it also causes him to make more mistakes. In his rage Cardin kicks Jaune as hard as he can, punting him away and into a nearby tree. It did a lot of damage, sure, but it also created a distance between the two, giving Jaune the time to recover.

Thus the two huntsmen-in-training find a momentary pause in the battle, using it to assess each other's condition: Jaune is clearly more tired than Cardin, stamina being another weakness on the blonde's part. The one thing that is similar is that they both barely have any aura left.

In a tournament-style duel both would already be counted out, and one of the would've been declared the winner. However, this is not a tournament, and Yang is apparently not satisfied until one of them breaks their aura. A single good hit is probably enough to decide a victor. With a loud battle cry Jaune charges at Cardin again, who charges with a yell as well.

A third war cry suprises all three students. Looking at its source they find a very angry-looking ursa major jumping out of the brushes. That is one big ursa, as both Jaune and Cardin stop their fight to fearfully look at the grimm.

There's both good news and bad news for the guys. The good news is that the ursa is way more interested in the girl covered in tree sap compared to them. The bad news is that they're standing right on the path towards Yang.

With a loud roar the beast charges at the brawler, not caring for the humans it will trample on its path.

Cardin freezes like a deer in headlights, unable to move due to his fear. He tries to move his legs, but his entire body feels like it's paralyzed. With his current aura level there's no doubt that it's going to break. Worst case scenario and he'll break several of his bones as he becomes of victim of the beast.

Damn, damn damn damn! Move, damn it! Something, anything, get him out of this hellish situation!

No salvation comes. The ursa sprints straight towards them, and Cardin knows he's done for. Closing his eyes he braces himself for the impact. It came, though it was a lot lighter then he expected. Instead of an ursa crashing on top of him he gets pushed out of the way by Jaune of all people, who tanks the ursa's blow with his shield. The beast holds little interest in these two humans, abandoning them to continue chasing the sap-covered one.

Cardin looks astonished at how it ended. He's alive, unharmed… heck, his aura didn't even get broken. And it's all thanks to… Jaune? It sounds so wrong, but it's true. "Jaune… why?"

"Better you than a grimm." The words might sound a bit harsh, but for once there is absolutely no animosity between the leaders of Cardinal and Juniper. Instead they watch Yang, who has not moved from he position even though a grimm is charging her.

The ursa has gotten within striking range of the human girl. He can smell it, almost taste it. Human, in a dressing of maple sap. There is no better meal for the foul beast, and it's so close! It swings its mighty claw at the human, obliterating her body… were it not for said girl catching the claw mid-swing with supernatural strength.

Yang gives the ursa a condemning look, as if she's about to swat away a particularly annoying insect. If grimm produced excrement, then the ursa would've shat itself right about now.

Yang delivers a single punch, fueled by a shotgun blast and her semblance. Its power is enough to blow up the lower arm of the ursa. The beast roars in pain, but Yang isn't done yet. Punch two destroys the ursa's stomach and forces it to keel over, the third causes strenuous head injury that would take months to recover and the fourth causes the entire head to explode off its shoulders. In the end the ursa major was still just an ursa.

The grimm beast disintegrates, its threat gone. Yang is done fighting, but that only goes for her battle. Her anger towards the guys is still existing, and she's fully expecting the leaders of Cardinal and Juniper to continue fighting. Cardin however has other plans, the ursa being surprisingly good at overriding his previous fears.

"I've had it with that girl!" Cardin wants to shout but keeps his voice low, making sure that Yang does not hear him. "During initiation, lunch, now… she's nothing but a thorn in my side! But I'm done letting her act so high and mighty. I'll stand up and fight!"

With wonder and awe Jaune looks at his bully and the sheer determination he exudes. If even Cardin can stand up to his fears, then Jaune can do so as well. Cardinal's leader won't be the only one improving in spirit. "No. We fight. Together."

For once Cardin's smile isn't cocky, being glad that Jaune found this resolve within him. "Y'know, Jaune, you're a pretty swell guy. Sorry for all the trouble I gave you the last weeks."

Jaune gives a similar smile back, and the two of them make amends with a badass handshake. They stand up together, ready to face their enemy as one.

Said enemy gives the two guys a weird look, unsure of their plan. "What are you two planning?"

"I'm done with this." Cardin shouts out, his mace at the ready. "This humiliation ends right here, right now! I won't be a victim anymore!"

"I'm done running!" Jaune also joins in his bully's inspirational speech, pumping adrenaline through his veins to get himself ready to brawl. "We choose you as our opponent!"

Yang cannot help but grin at their determination. Happiness fills her because those two found actual strength of mind, as well as this meaning that she's got more time to fight. "Hmph. Big mistake." Yang reloads her weapons, ready to take on some more action herself. Both sides charge at each other, deciding everything in epic battle!

Ten seconds later and Yang is overlooking the battered and auraless bodies of her opponents. Two people with little aura left against someone with full aura and a strength semblance working in overdrive? Unsurprisingly, the battle ended as soon as it started.

Dusting off her hands Yang is ready to make sure that the two of them pay for their crimes, were it not for a sudden interruption:

"All right, I've had my share of fun." Vernal walks up to her partner, finishing the bottle of tree sap she's been drinking while watching this play the three leaders came up with. Just like the sap all things must come to an end, so it's time to end Yang's revenge. "I think they've been punished enough, Yang."

In rage Yang finds herself unable to agree. "These two ruined my hair! I have no option but to cut it off now. It will take years to regrow! You said so yourself!" Yang turns back to the two guys, ready to break a few bones as punishment for her once-beautiful hair.

Okay, shit, that might go a bit too far for Vernal's taste. It wouldn't do her any good to get Yang kicked out of Beacon right now, so that leaves only one option for the Branwen: "Yeah… I lied." Yang looks utterly shocked at Vernal's admission of dishonesty, while her partner just shrugs it off. "It's tree sap. Just use something oily like mayonnaise or peanut butter to break down the sap and then you can easily rinse it off. It's not that difficult."

"I… you…. Why?" Yang's at a loss for words, only able to glare at that smirking asshole that is her partner.

"Because getting tree sap out of clothes is a rather annoying process that costs time. I wanted to make sure that our friends here would be punished properly."

In other words, make them the victim of an angry berserker. Vernal's plan isn't very complicated, but it was effective. Red eyes turn back to lilac, Yang's anger subsiding with the truth of her hair known. "I really hate you, Vernal."

"Aw. Truly, you hurt my very soul." Vernal's sarcastic reply is as expected, like usual between this half of Vibrant. Everything goes back to normal… except for a second rustling of the bushes. Could it be that there are more grimm? Ember Celica, Sun Shang and Sun Xiang are deployed, ready to take on whatever foul beast comes through.

"Alright, I'm back!" Instead of grimm it's a human that enters the battlefield, to be more precise one that left this place only a few minutes ago. Dove Bronzewing has returned to the fight, ready to support his team in their fight. "All right, Yang, you got a lucky shot in, but with my team you'll be toast!"

The two members of Vibrant look at each other, unsure what to think of Dove's challenge. He's clearly still half-dazed, as he takes a while to oversee the battlefield: Jaune and Cardin are downed, Russel and Sky are nowhere to be seen, while Yang and Vernal are standing as victors over their enemies.

"So…" Dove lets out meekly, realizing that he's at the mercy of the enemy. "isn't it about time we go back to Goodwitch?"

Yang and Vernal let out a snicker at Dove's expense, though they do agree that he has a point. It is time to get back. They first make sure that everyone's bottle is filled, including the one that Vernal just ate. Vernal, Yang, Jaune, team Cardinal. Cardin can be lucky that his team brought a spare bottle or else he would be unable to complete his assignment. With the job done the girls are ready to escort the boys back to the starting point.

It doesn't take long before the quintet reaches the main peloton, where Goodwitch is grading teams on whether they've collected their four bottles. The rest of Juniper is there, as well as the fleers from Cardinal. Much to Yang's surprise she also found Blake and Ilia, both waiting around with a full bottle of tree sap. Calling out for them the team reunites, with Yang wondering where those two have been.

Blake has no problem pointing out the truth: "We were with other friends."

Huh. Yang is surprised that he original suspicion is true. She looks around, trying to find who would fit as friends for these two dark and broody girls. That group over there looks somewhat shady, and those boys have a slight gothic look… hmm…

"You won't find them." Ilia notices what Yang is doing and doesn't see reason to let her keep looking for what doesn't exist. "We weren't hanging out with any first-years. They've probably already left the forest by themselves."

O…kay? Yang can accept that there is some secret meeting, but there's something else that doesn't make sense then. "But that sap…" How do you obtain sap without a tap and drill? Where did these two get those objects if it was not from another team?

"Yang, you're overthinking it." Blake throws the supply bag at Yang who catches it out of the air. Those two are done talking about today, so Yang just fills the bag with the stuff Vernal has been carrying. Tap, drill and two bottles of tree sap are placed in the bag, next to the other two filed bottles and hammer that were utilized by the other half. The bag pack is back to around the same weight it was when they entered forever fall, but Yang would like to make it a bit lighter.

Representing team Vibrant she walks up to the teacher, handing her the four bottles of tree sap. Glynda looks over the content, deeming all four bottles to be correctly filled and checks off VYBA from the list of team names. Their team can now rest easy, having completed their task of the day.

After Yang steps away the next one in line is none other than Jaune, carrying four bottles of tree sap from team Juniper. He too delivers his four bottles, getting Juniper checked off from Glynda's list. Normally Jaune would be done and ready to go back, but there is something else that needs to be said. Turning to Goodwitch he tells her that there's something of great importance that needs to be discussed.

Glynda is not sure what to take of this, but she does have an obligation to help students with whatever academy-related troubles they have. It is in her contract, after all. "I'm listening, mister Arc."

Turning his mind into steel, Jaune wills the words out of his mouth: "I… faked my entrance transcripts." It didn't come out loud. The only people who noticed them are Yang, Glynda and Jaune himself. They're still enough to make Jaune look down in shame as both listeners are stumped at this confession.

Glynda is still having a hard time to believe that. "If what you say is true, and not some terrible attempt at a joke, then you have a serious problem on your hand that could threaten your stay here at Beacon." Jaune doesn't respond, claiming that it's a bad joke or something like that. Glynda realizes how serious the situation is and acts appropriately. "I see. I will need to discuss this with headmaster Ozpin. For now, though, you and your team are considered done with this outing. Dismissed."

Jaune walks away, his body shaking with fear, but not a single ounce of shame and cowardice is left within him. There's a new fire blazing in his eyes. He came out of this ordeal stronger, even if this is costing him his spot at Beacon. Maybe he might become an actual huntsman now.

"I really hope I didn't make a mistake here."

Yeah, maybe…

The flight back to Beacon is filled with fear and resignation. Most of it is unsurprisingly from Jaune, who is going over doom scenarios after he gets kicked out of school. How his old live is over and he must start anew. The main problem he has is that he can't decide between a completely new life as Valian man of mystery Philippe or as his South-Vacuan cousin Juane. In Yang's opinion he is making a bit too much of a drama out of it all. It can't be that bad, right?

Eventually the bullhead arrives back at Beacon, where the headmaster himself is awaiting Jaune. In a clam tone he addresses the culprit: "Mister Arc, I've heard about some of your… recent confessions." Jaune winces at Ozpin's euphemism, his face white as a sheet. "Now, do you want to handle this in private or do you allow these people to stay?"

Jaune doesn't mind if this gets public, having steeled his mind in preparation. He won't run away anymore from the truth. Ozpin lets out a small smile and asks Glynda to lead the rest of the students back to Beacon. She does as she is told, leaving only teams Juniper and Vibrant around the headmaster.

"So…" Ozpin begins speaking, his voice stern and cold. "You forged your way into Beacon. I have to say, that is quite the offense you've committed. If I recall the punishment for something like this can go up to half a year of jail time."

Okay, Jaune realizes he is screwed. Just being kicked out of Beacon seems to be the least of his worries now. Why did he have to act manly and confess the truth?

Ozpin isn't done with his speech, further revealing information about Jaune's condition: "Though I have been aware of your misdeed ever since you started at Beacon, it is nice to have the truth confirmed."

"You… what?" Jaune can't believe that the secret he thought he hid so well was exposed from basically day one? How and when did he screw this up?

"I'm afraid you weren't very careful during your initiation. You've made a few… obvious flaws in Emerald Forest."

"But there were no teachers in the Emerald Forest." Jaune can admit that he made a mistake, but that just raises another question: "You said it yourself, the teachers wouldn't be able to save us if we got in trouble. How could you know what happened here?"

"How do you think we were able to grade you for initiation and decide on team captains if we couldn't see what you did?" Ozpin's question does make everyone wonder, before Blake gives the answer:

"Cameras." She has seen several of them hanging inconspicuously around the forest, just enough out of sight that someone who doesn't watch her every step wouldn't notice. Ozpin nods, and tells that that is how he realized that Jaune didn't exactly tell the truth:

"Now imagine my surprise when I found out that mister Arc had to get his aura unlocked by miss Nikos. How could his transcripts claim that he finished preparatory combat school if he never unlocked his aura? Obviously, the transcripts were fake."

Realizing that Ozpin knew the truth from the very beginning Jaune has one question left. "If you knew, then why didn't you kick me out of Beacon immediately? In fact, why did you make me team leader if you knew how much I suck?"

"Mister Arc, do you know what ordinary, untalented people do when they dream of the huntsman life?" Jaune tries to answer, but Ozpin already fills in the blanks: "They fantasize about it, maybe even write or talk about it, before returning to their ordinary life. You on the other hand were willing to commit forgery just to get your chance at being a huntsman. While I do not condone of that crime, I have to admit that you are in possession of admirable drive and willpower."

Nice as that is, Jaune doesn't believe that that it is enough to allow him to stay. "Those can't be the requirements to be accepted into the academy, right? What about recommendatory papers, or combat ability?"

"There are only two requirements students need to fulfill to become a huntsman-in-training at one of the academies: The student needs to be approved by the teacher's council and pass initiation. Mister Arc, though it was with some lies and subterfuge you did manage to succeed at both, earning your stay at Beacon." Ozpin's words give some hope to Jaune, though Ozpin sees need to drown it out: "On the other hand, I can understand that some students are not appreciative of your actions. If any of the members of team Juniper want to issue complaints about their team leader, I'm willing to make concessions for their sake."

Jaune looks at the rest of the team, fully expecting them to drop their leader like a hot potato. Instead he sees all of them looking at him with, well, acceptance. Pyrrha smiles, relief that her team leader finally is willing to admit to his faults.

"Well, I think that our team leader learned his lesson." Pyrrha words are no longer angry, having forgiven Jaune for willing to brave his mistakes. "Professor Ozpin, I've no complaints about Jaune Arc."

Jaune can't believe it. "You're really willing to continue with me, knowing what I did?"

"Yeah!" Nora shouts, giving her team leader a big bear hug. "You may be just a Jaune, but you're our Jaune." Even Ren wordlessly puts a hand on his leader's shoulder, showing his support in his own way. Team Juniper is in full support of their leader.

The tightness of the team makes Ozpin smile, glad that he didn't have to break the dreams of a potential huntsmen. "Then I suppose there are no objections to your stay at Beacon, mister Arc. I would wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors." With those words Ozpin walks away, his mission fulfilled. He will of course fill Goodwitch in on Jaune's approval, but the rest lies entirely into Juniper's hands.

Jaune turns towards his teammates, pulling his entire team into a big group hug. "I… I'm sorry for everything until now. I really acted like an idiot thus far, and I shouldn't have. Thanks for staying with me through it all."

"Well, we can't let a member of our team fall so easily." Pyrrha is glad that her partner is finally acting like a man. "Jaune, your apology is accepted."

This almost brings a tear in Jaune's eye, as he makes a promise for their team's future: "I'm not strong, or skilled, or even that smart. But I will get better, together with you guys. We'll become the best team Beacon has ever seen!" The hug gets broken off, all members of the team smiling and happy.

"Should I make pancakes in celebration?" Ren's suggestion immediately gets accepted by Nora, who doesn't give the rest of the team any time for debate. Pyrrha and Jaune go with the flow, happy that their team is finally back as one.

Juniper's sister team overlooks Jaune's redemption from further away, letting his team take the center stage. All in all, today went better than expected. Jaune grew a backbone, he isn't bullied anymore and most importantly Yang doesn't suffer from any permanent wounds. Reaching out one of her arms she notices that yes, there's still some purplish goo stuck in her hair.

"Any of you know where to find some peanut butter or mayonnaise?"

The question comes a bit out of left field for the rest of team Vibrant who weren't there, and Blake doesn't have to offer anything other then advising Yang to go to the cafeteria. Vernal obviously doesn't want to give Yang an easy solution, but to everyone's surprise it is Ilia who might have something to offer for her leader:

"I have a jar of peanut butter in my drawer." This gets a few surprised looks from the rest of the team, requiring Ilia to explain herself: "What? It's a good study snack." Especially when combined with something like chocolate, apples or pretzels, the latter of which she has bag of inside her own storage space.

It's the easier option compared to the other option that Yang has. Upon learning the reason Yang needs the peanut butter Ilia allows her teammate to use her jar, so long as she buys a replacement from the academy supermarket later this day.

"Sure, I'll get you your fix later." Yang walks towards Beacon, slightly upping her pace to stay in front of her team. "Don't mind me if I'm hogging the bathroom for the next hour. If you need to use the toilet you can use the dirty public one instead!" Yang's walking pace turns into a run, knowing perfectly well that someone else won't allow that:

"Like hell I will!" Vernal runs after Yang, making sure to arrive their dorm before her partner can. Blake and Ilia look on from a distance, walking back at a more regular pace. It's been less than a minute since all the commotion of forgeries and criminality and everything is back to normal. Yep, it was business as usual for team Vibrant.

* * *

 **And with this chapter I have covered volume 1. Sure, there's still episodes 15 and 16, but they're occurring closer to the start of volume two… I think. The timeline of the RWBYverse is a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff that only gives headaches to those who try to make sense of it.**

 **I do not have any intention of bringing SCRP to Beacon yet. It leaves too many interesting moments unexplored. Therefore, I need to fill in this volume-wide gap with some side stories. Since I have no canon to work with other than Grimm Eclipse, I need to make stuff up on my own.**

 **I do have an idea or two, but I doubt it fills enough of this time period. Therefore, I have a request to make: If you have any interesting plots or hijinks you want to see happening to team SCRP or VYBA, put it in a review and let me know. Who knows, if I like the idea enough I might work it into the story!**

 **With that said, on to the questions:**

 **Kaioo:** _ **Isn't team Scorpio much stronger than Regal, since the former has people like Weiss, Ruby and Penny?  
**_ **Yep, it's exactly as you say. SCRP is much stronger, but they lost because Regal had better strategies (Not really that big a surprise when your team leader is an expy of Nightwing). In the end tactical advantage, dirty tactics, temporarily disabling Ciel and eliminating Penny by a technicality was just enough for RGAL to scrape out a victory. No wonder Ruby was pissed, they really shouldn't have lost under normal circumstances.**

 **Guest 18-01-19:** _ **Wasn't Weiss always the best team player in canon, so why is she not that here?**_ **  
Well, Weiss became the best team player after her character development in episode 1-10. Before that, though, she was a lot less "team" and a lot more "I". As this is the comparable chapter of development it's no surprise that she's been somewhat more selfish thus far.**

 **Guest 18-01-19:** _ **Don't Weiss' struggles seem a bit… Rubyish? Said heiress has communication errors and**_ **i** _ **sn't it Ruby who has problems with communication?  
**_ **I believe this got answered in the story, but: Weiss problems isn't her lack of communication, it's the rigidity of her strategies and inability to adapt to changing situations on the battlefield. It's not that she cannot communicate, it's that she didn't have the time to communicate well.**


	9. Chapter 2-Start

A month has passed since initiation, and team Scorpio is working together to improve as huntresses and be the best team Atlas has ever seen. Thanks to their leader's strict adherence to the rules and enforcement of group-sized study times SCRP has become the top team of the first year, as talent and diligence combined are able to create miraculous results.

However, they can't rest on their laurels yet. They've got to keep it up to stay at the top, and that includes the lessons of today:

All four members are present for history class, where they're studying about the faunus rights revolution. Their teacher for history is professor Shade. Compared to some of the other eccentric teachers he is much more, well, normal. The only things that strikes Ruby as odd is the glowing golden stone on his forehead half-covered by his golden locks, like the one Ciel is wearing. Okay, there's also the long golden cape that he's wearing at every single moment of the day, but that's not abnormal. Capes are awesome, as Ruby can attest to!

Ruby's cape mate is busy with going through the lecture material of the day, going over the faunus rights revolution in chronological order. From the first sparks where faunus protested about getting imprisoned on Menagerie, the first strikes of the faunus' rebellion and mankind's retaliation. That filled two hours, and the professor allowed a small break for the students to finish their notes and get a little bit of rest, so that they're fresh again for the most important part of today's lesson:

"Now, we are left with the largest turning point of the war: The siege of Fort Castle." Professor Shade walks to the chalkboard, writing down short summaries of his notes on the board. "During the human blitzkrieg three months previous general Lagune managed to capture the fort by sneaking a small advance force through the undefended waterways. Now the faunus managed to besiege the general's forces in return. Even though under normal circumstances a siege requires an offensive force three times the defending army is needed, the faunus managed to take Fort Castle back again with equal numbers. Can any of you tell me how this happened?"

"General Lagune foolheartedly led a charge against the faunus during the night, hoping to surprise his foes while they were sleeping." To the upper right of Ruby some rabbit faunus she never heard of answers the question. He seems rather happy that he can point out the truth to these 'ignorant humans', further grounding Lagune's stupidity with a nasty smirk. "Of course, he would've realized that faunus have night-vision if he were even the slightest bit intelligent. This led to most of his force being either killed or captured."

"Correct, mister March. General Lagune committed a grave tactical error by attacking a faunus army at night, giving the faunus a distinct advantage over the human army. Now then, Peter, can you also tell me why he made that mistake?"

Peter March shrugs, claiming that the answer is ignorance: "What can I say? Some humans are just that stupid, I suppose."

Professor Shade looks unimpressed. "True, perhaps, but there was a distinct reason for the general's failure." With Peter's answer declared wrong the professor hopes that someone else can answer. To the surprise of nobody in team Scorpio it is their leader who eagerly shoots up her own hand. Weiss is given the chance to answer and does so with the elegance expected of someone of her caliber.

"Fort Castle is in a barren mountainous area with all its water supplies coming from a nearby river. The night before the attack the faunus poisoned the upper course of the river, causing a large portion of the general's troops to fall sick, possibly even general Lagune himself. With parts of his army dying and no access to fresh water he was forced to try a desperate attack, with negative results."

Weiss answer is deemed correct by professor Shade, happy that the heiress got the answer correct and somewhat expecting it by now. The professor knows perfectly well that most other teachers consider Weiss' the most well-behaved student of them all, and it shows. However, if normal questions won't suffice… well, it wouldn't do if Weiss turned into a know-it-all.

"Well then, miss Schnee. Perhaps you would know the answer to the following question as well: Poisoning the waterways is considered a war crime according to the Vytal conventions founded at the end of the great war, but the faunus war captain responsible for the deed was not punished. Could you explain why?"

Weiss ponders the question, not knowing the answer on instinct. Several times she is ready to guess, before backtracking on her own thoughts. Seeing the professor running out of patience forces Weiss to make an educated guess: "As the winners of the faunus rights revolution, the victors did not get punished for the crimes they committed?"

The answer came out as a question, and the professor shakes his head. "An educated guess, miss Schnee, but I'm afraid it's also an incorrect one. Does someone else know the answer?"

Nobody is ready to answer. It doesn't surprise Shade, seeing as this is an exam question asked during the end-of-year exam for third-year history students. Now, time to explain-"Miss Polendina?"

The redhead of Scorpio is willing to answer in her team leader's stead: "The Vytal conventions were only signed and accepted by the kingdoms that existed at the time: Vale, Vacuo, Atlas and Mistral. The faunus force led by War Captain Ravine belongs to what would become the chiefdom of Menagerie, thus they did not fall under the Vytal conventions. This, as well as other incidents during the war, led to the inclusion of Menagerie in the Vytal conventions in the year 16 After Vytal."

A book perfect answer. Everyone, even the teacher looks in surprise at Penny. While none of team Scorpio is lacking in mental ability, Penny's knowledge of facts is almost comparable to a supercomputer! Heck, she's the only person who rivals Weiss during dust studies, and even at metallurgy Penny manages to outsmart someone who made a complex weapon like Crescent Rose! Yeah, team Scorpio is awesome!

Professor Shade congratulates Penny on her correct answer, before continuing about the aftermath of the siege. "Now, this large loss of soldiers on the human side forced the remaining generals to readjust their plans…"

History continues like this for a while, until the midday bell rings to indicate that the block is over. The teacher gives some last bits of homework before letting the students go their way. Scorpio is going as well, ready to spend the rest of the afternoon on both homework and free time.

As the gang walks through the hallways whispers and rumors from other students form the ambient noise, as quite a lot of them glance over at Scorpio before quickly looking away when they're noticed.

Huh. That's weird. It's not that out of the ordinary that people act like this when your team leader is Weiss Schnee, with the wayward Schnee hater or faunus giving you curious looks. However, so many students, of so many backgrounds? Something has happened for sure. In fact, the cause of all these whispers is addressing the leader personally:

"Weiss."

The team looks at the source of the voice, who makes the team leader straighten up as a reflexive response.

"Father." Standing there in Atlas academy is none other than Jacques Schnee. Head of the Schnee Dust Cooperation, as well as Weiss' father. Surrounded by half a dozen bodyguards, he emanates a cold, powerful presence to all who gaze upon him. Weiss gives a small curtsy, which the rest of her team following up with varying degrees of success.

Jacques looks at the other three members of Scorpio. "Weiss, I assume these are your teammates?"

Weiss confirms her father's thought, introducing all three of them to her father. Mulling over the names for a second, he greets the other members of the team. "Ah, the daughters of Pietro Polendina and Cinque du Soleil. And as for you, miss Rose… would you perhaps have any family named Summer Rose?"

That gets a shock out of Ruby. "That's my mother… you knew her?" Weiss' father and her mother knew each other? What other backstory is there between the Schnees and the Roses?

"The team leader of Stark. Quite a capable group of huntsmen, I've hired them for several missions back in the past to escort dust cargos and prevent terrorist strikes. How is she doing?"

That brings back a few bad memories for Ruby. Keeping up appearances she politely tells Jacques that Summer has passed away.

"A pity." Overall Jacques is pleased with the team Weiss hangs around with. The only children of Giuseppe Polendina and Cinque du Soleil, two very influential men in Atlas, are now good friends with his successor. As for Ruby Rose, it could've been worse. It might improve relations between Atlas and Vale and increase the sales in that region. The only shame is that there are no faunus on Weiss' team, a token teammate like that would do wonders for the relations between the SDC and the faunus. Oh well. The world can't be perfect… yet.

Jacques turns back towards his daughter, forcing her to pay attention to her father's report: "Headmaster Ironwood and I have discussed your progress and that of your team here at Atlas academy. Your team is outperforming all other teams of your year in both the combat and non-combat classes." Jacques says it all with a stoic face, like he expected nothing less.

The approval of her father makes Weiss smile, though not enough to break the polite atmosphere. "Of course. I intend to live up to the Schnee family name."

"Though your results in SERE are unsatisfactory." Though Weiss tries to hide it, she takes a quarter step backwards from the sudden change of tone. "It does not interest me why you chose that course; all I expect is that your grades for it are flawless. You are representing the Schnee family name, after all."

Weiss regains her composure and assuages her father that it will be all right. "I did struggle with the course at the start of the semester due to a lack of preparatory knowledge, but I am working hard to close this gap day by day with the help of Ruby Rose. By the start of the second semester I expect the two of us to outperform the other first-year students in this course."

"It would disappoint me if you didn't." Not wishing to waste any valuable time the head of the SDC gets straight to the point: "To help you I've ensured that your team gets the possibility to further improve your grades with the help of some extra credit."

Now Weiss is cautiously looking at her father's idea. "And what would that be, father?"

"Next Saturday one of our cargo ships, the Sternenstaub, will leave for Argus to deliver a large shipment of dust. I've arranged with the headmaster that your team will assist in the protection of the goods as a form of extracurricular credit."

It's clear that that last part was not a request. That was as close to an order as you can get, and Weiss is not intend on rejecting that directly:

"I believe that the trip to Argus would be long enough to take several weekdays off our schedule. Would this not interfere with my schoolwork?"

Jacques snaps his finger, and one of his bodyguards gives Weiss a small stack of paper. "I have made arrangements with the teachers. This will contain everything team Scorpio needs to learn for the week they're missing."

And there goes the only excuse that Weiss could've brought in against her father. "Of course, father. We will help with escorting the Sternenstaub."

"Good. I will take my leave now. Make sure you have everything prepared for take-off." With those words Jacques leaves, his daughter left with a mission that should be above someone of their year. Turning to her team she bows, apologizing for getting them involved in family business that should be her problem alone.

Ruby hugs Weiss, temporarily confusing the white-haired girl as she gives a puzzled look at her smiling partner: "Hey, remember what you said after our first fight? Whatever we do, we do it together. Your problems are our problems, Weiss." Aww… thanks Ruby, that was nice to say. "And our problems are yours, I suppose. Hehe."

Pff… dork. Weiss rolls her eyes at the words Ruby fumbled out of her mouth. Still, the support is appreciative. The rest of the team agree with Ruby's words as well, that they will share their problems as a team. With the four of them this escort mission will be a cinch!

"Thanks, everyone." Weiss soft smile hardens a bit. Emotionally she may want this moment to last forevermore, but as team leader she must make sure everyone is ready for next Saturday: "Now, we still have a lot of homework to do, as well as classes to follow until the end of the week. We need to work extra hard in the upcoming days. That way we only need to take a minimal amount of homework with us on the ship. Is that clear?"

The other three nod, ready to do whatever it takes for their leader and friend. With confident smiles they continue their way to the cafeteria and get some food.

Only three days later and team Scorpio is already on its way to Argus. The Sternenstaub has left Mantle's port with a bit of ado, getting media coverage only because a Schnee was guarding the ship. The ship is around 700 feet long and carrying a load of around 25,000 tons of dust to the Atlesian outpost. Equipped with a large harpoon cannon and several smaller ballistae the ship is ready to take on the larger grimm types that live in the open seas of Atlas.

Team Scorpio is expected to be a week away from the academy: It should take five days to get to Mantle by ship, one day they will spend in Argus as a free day and the trip back to Atlas by bullhead also takes up most of a day.

Currently they're on the main deck, watching themselves leave the continent of Solitas as they're navigating towards Anima. Weiss takes this moment to give a good pep talk for her team:

"As you know we've finished our homework for History, Dust Studies, SERE and Metallurgy during the past two days. However, we've still got some courses for which we need to-hey!"

The sound of buttons being mashed, as well as a screen being tapped brings Weiss out of her speech, glaring at Ruby who is playing a game on her scroll.

"Ruby Rose!" The sudden call-out shocks the red reaper, who fumbles with her scroll a bit trying to sound more attentive. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Ehm, it seems I just lost a match of UDOST…" Ruby looks a bit saddened as 'You Lose' can be heard from the scroll's speakers, but Weiss has no idea what Ruby is talking about. Ruby takes it as the chance to explain the game to Weiss: "UDOST, or in full 'Upper Day Out-Death Exe:Soon[est]'! It's the most realistic fighting game on the market, with carefully crafted gameplay, awesome characters and lots of offensive and defensive mechanics. It's totally amazing!"

Weiss does not look impressed. No, in fact, she looks more pissed than ever. "We are on the Sternenstaub, a ship that has served three generations of my family with the transportation of dust. It carries goods that will help the lives of millions on Anima and might be subject to horrid dangers during the transport. You are supposed to guard this ship, and instead you're playing a game?!"

O boy, Weiss is livid. There's probably a lecture coming up, so Ruby tries anything she can to make Weiss slightly more forgiving. "Well, uhm, since I was playing against Ciel, can we call this team bonding instead?"

Weiss' twitching eyelids seem to say no. But instead of getting angry at her partner Weiss gets angry at Ciel. "You too, Ciel? Ruby is one thing, but I honestly expected better from you then to waste your time with such games."

"Our hobbies are our own." Ciel sees no need to apologize, so she doesn't. "The duration of this journey is long. Distractions against boredom are… necessary. After finding out Ruby plays UDOST as well, it was worth it to take it with me."

Ugh… Weiss sighs, as she turns to Penny in the hope of some good news. Surely someone agrees with Weiss that team Scorpio needs to do their job, right?

"I believe that with your win against Ruby I will face off against you in this scroll game, Ciel?" No, instead Penny has her scroll whipped out of her pocket as well, ready to face her partner in the fighting game. Ciel nods, though they are polite enough to wait until Weiss finished her tirade. Ruby turns to Weiss, kind enough to offer placing UDOST on her scroll as well with an extra copy she has so all four of them can play together.

That is enough for Weiss to snap. "You three are playing video games out here in the open sea!" The heiress is starting to shout, her hope in her teammates somewhat lost. "What would happen if a grimm suddenly attacked out here on the open sea? SDC personnel would die because you were too busy playing a game!"

"I for one do not expect grimm for most of the journey." An older, male voice calls out to Scorpio, who look around to see an elderly gentleman in a fancy captain's outfit. With no direct response he explains further: "You don't see many Grimm out on the open seas. No human lives there, after all, so it's not very profitable terrain for them. Now, when you get close to land though… ho ho, those are some stories for another time."

"Captain Morgen!" Weiss, still somewhat reeling from getting suddenly called out, gives a light bow to the captain. "I apologize on behalf of my team for not being alert during take-off."

"Hahaha, don't worry about it. Your job is to fight off the grimm, and ours is to alert you of the grimm. Until we're under attack it's fine to play games or be busy with homework. You are kids after all, you don't need to be perfect all the time."

"Besides, nobody's got to be worried with us around." Appearing behind the captain are two huntsmen. The one who spoke wears a blue buckled shirt over black pants, a giant mace resting on his shoulder. "The name's Dee, and my partner here's Dudley. We're this ship's very own huntsmen."

Dudley, dressed similarly but with more white and yellow, carries an ancient-looking harquebus over his shoulder. "If you get scared, we can protect you. It's our job as graduates to take good care of the next generation. It's all part of our job, after all."

The way Dudley said that hinted at a sneer of sarcasm, something the captain picked up as well. "Dudley, these huntresses may be young, but I would not underestimate them. This team is the top of their class, while your team Saddle ended somewhere in the middle, correct?"

Dee scowls at the commend, while Dudley huffs in defeat. This would be a good time to leave it be, but Ruby can't help but give a taunt in return:

"Don't worry, you two: You don't have to fight if you're afraid of us showing you up."

That manages to get under the two guys' skin. Dee is glaring angrily at the girl in red, while Dudley has a few words to say of his own:

"O yeah? Perhaps I should show you what a professional huntsman can d-?" Dudley falls silent, trying to concentrate on a familiar sound he hears. "Is that the UDOST character select screen music?"

"Yeah…?" Ruby replies with curiosity. "You know of it?"

"You bet I do!" Dudley pulls out his own scroll, showing off the fighting game's icon proudly standing in the center of the map. "Dare to play against me? Let me warn you in advance, my Chaos will leave you in chaos, little girl."

"Oh yeah?" A triggered Ruby replies, hand on the controller. "Well you better not have any cross thoughts after you get Grim Reaper'd, old man. Bring it!"

"It's on!"

As Ruby and Dudley start the first clause of their rivalry, their partners look at one another. Though their opinions on things may differ, at least they can find solace in that they're not the only one with an immature partner.

The days pass as everyone does their duty. Some of Scorpio's time is spend on studying and making sure everyone stays up-to-date with their classmates back in Atlas; Other times the huntresses would patrol the ship between all the containers, officially looking out for any stowaways but in reality using the moment to train for fighting in restrained areas; Of course, there's no denying that they didn't have free time as well, whether they were playing games or having other forms of fun; In fact, Ruby manages to work together with Dudley to hold a ship-wide UDOST tourney with the help from a large projector in the lounge room. Captain Morgen was pleasantly surprised to find such healthy competition and camaraderie between the crew and the huntsmen.

When the team is only a few hours removed from their destination of Argus they sit together in the lunchroom of the ship, trying to enjoy the food served on this ship. It can be considered positive that the worst part of this entire trip is the suboptimal food.

Weiss checks whether everyone completed all their homework. Four courses still needed to be evaluated: Physics, Advanced dust studies, Economics and Grimm studies. Physics gets quickly glossed over by Weiss to see if it's generally correct, as she's not following the course. The other three are studied more thoroughly, where Weiss can only find a small rounding error in one of the economics equations. After rewriting the equation Weiss puts the paper on the table with a loud thud, proudly declaring to the rest of Scorpio that they've finished homework.

"Whohoo!" Ruby celebrates this news the loudest, though Ciel also cracks a smile at the news.

"We have done a phenomenal job, everyone!" Penny confirms the statement in her usual cheerful manner. "What are we supposed to do next?"

…

Yeah, that's something that they did not consider. With homework done, there's little left to do. There's free time, but the team didn't bring much with them other then a few games on their scroll. Another UDOST tournament would be fun, but most of the scrolls are near-empty from being used for homework. With the lack of grimm to fight team Scorpio's only enemy is boredom, one that they just have to endure.

"Y'know, I can't help but feel that this a bit anticlimactic." Ruby brings out her complaints about the situation. "Where are the grimm, the pirates? I wanted epic sea battles, but all we got was border patrol." Ruby starts to sulk, as Weiss admonishes her young teammate.

"Are you kidding me? There is no good reason to willingly throw yourself into danger like that! Ruby Rose, what are you thinking?!"

"I'm not complaining that nothing happened, I just wish we had something exiting during the trip, y'know?"

*BOOM*

A loud noise startles team Scorpio as the ship rocks back and forth, like it just got hit with a torpedo. Dang it Ruby, you just had to jinx it, didn't you?

The huntresses-in-training look around the ship, hoping that it was just a mechanical failure. Sadly, it's not to be: When they arrive on the main deck they find Dee, Dudley and some other crewmembers standing off against a large group of White Fang.

"Yo-ho-ho! Ahoy, me hearties!" Addressing the crew of the Sternenstaub is an alligator faunus dressed in the standard White Fang uniform addressed with some… colorful accessories. A pirate's tricorn over a bandana, one of the eyeholes of his white fang mask is covered with an eyepatch, and his left hand is a classic pirate's hook, a fake considering it's strapped over his real hand. "Ye be plundered by the Pirate Lord O' the Mistrallean seas, Captain Tick and his seadogs! Now hand over ye treasures to the Fang like a good lads and lasses, or you might walk the plank and feed the fishies, savvy?"

Wow… someone watched way too many pirate movies. Even the pirate crew seems to be done with their leader's antics, as one of them smacks her captain in the back of the head. Their leader does not appreciate it:

"Pearl, let me have this moment!" Tick says without his accent, "For the first time in, well, forever we're robbing an actual ship, on the actual sea. This is probably the only chance we'll ever get at being like the pirates of yore, so c'mon, let's enjoy this! Everyone who's with me, say arrr!" The pirate lord turns back to his crew, expecting a grand unifying shout. Instead he only gets a single arrr from a cat faunus back in the line, shushed by her neighbors. It still lifts the captain's spirits, however, doling out rewards to his loyal follower: "Aye, double loot for ye, Kitty!"

"Can we finally take this seriously?" Pearl asks, expressing the thoughts of not just the serious part of the pirates. The crew of the Sternenstaub also looks ready to just start the attack.

With an exasperated sigh Tick accepts the request of his second in command. "Fine then…" Turning to the captain of the ship Tick issues his command: "So, here's how we're going to do it. The first option is to pay us taxes for safe passage. I don't think that our tiny ships can carry much more than a thousand tons of dust, and you should be carrying a few dozen times that amount. Pay us that freely and we'll be out of your way. The second option is that we fight, we beat you, and we take both the ship and the crew hostage. Your losses will be… large, so to say. What's it gonna be?"

A gunshot rings out as one of the grunts gets hit in the chest, stumbling backward and falling into the cold water with a splash. Next to team Scorpio is Dudley, his gun smoking as he gave the answer for the crew.

Annoyed Tick looks down the railing, where the grunt is swimming towards one of the attack ships. "I guess that settles that. Charge!"

Pirates and crewmembers face each other in combat, with most of the Sternenstaub quickly overwhelmed by the better fighting skills of the White Fang. The tide needs to be turned by huntsmen, who are eager to fight back:

Dee and Dudley have their backs to one another, working together just like they did when they graduated from Haven. The latter takes potshots at unguarded enemies to break their aura and make them stumble off the ship. The former is busy making sure that his partner can do his job, using his spiky mace to knock away any faunus or bullets daring to come close.

Where the two official huntsmen stand vast like a rock holding against a river, the students seek to instead change this battle's flow. Weiss hands the command to her partner, who splits up the team in two: Ciel and Penny make sure that the non-combat crew can safely evacuate with no hostages possible for the Fang, while Weiss and Ruby will sow confusion by taking out the commanders.

Penny charges at the gun-wielding goons laying suppressive fire on the crewmembers, swords spinning in two circles at her sides. She knocks down a quartet of fang members by throwing her swords, two of them having their rather weak aura broken from the attack. The other two try to block the swords with their guns, but there's just too many blades. One is knocked out by a sword slamming into his neck, while the other gets pushed over the railing by three other swords.

As she did that half a dozen other mooks formed a half circle around the redhead, planning to take her by surprise. It worked, were it not for one of them shouting "Fire!" to get them all acting in unison. Now aware of the attack Penny spins around, her weapons dancing around her as she deflects the bullets, ricocheting them into new targets. The bullets of mook one strike mook four, mook two strikes mook six, mook three strikes mook two… all six of them are felled by friendly fire thanks to Penny, falling to the ground at the same time.

The girl bows politely to her enemies. "Thank you for the battle!" The mooks cannot hear it in their unconsciousness, but they probably wouldn't have cared for it much even if they could hear.

Ciel focuses on the advancing melee combatants, who all wield mass-produced swords and try to take down the ship's crew. One by one she takes down her enemies, constantly taking the shortest path to take down the enemy with minimal movement. Within seconds her takedown counter is in the double digits, a fact that does not go unnoticed by the White Fang itself.

Most of the smarter Fang members wisely stay out of Ciel's way, but there are just some that have either too much loyalty or too little sense. A teenage cat faunus lunges at Ciel from behind, making a stab with her sword to pierce through the huntress. It's a third-rate attack, one that Ciel can dodge with ease. Rotating ninety degrees the huntress catches the sword between elbow and knee.

The cat faunus tries to pull the sword away, but it won't budge. Ciel has a tighter grip on the sword with just two joints then someone able to use both of her hands. It doesn't even seem to strain the huntress in training, as she has enough time to make observations about the enemy:

"You… are miss Kitty, correct?"

"Y-Yes!" Kitty did not expect her enemy to try and talk with her. In that case, perhaps she can make the most of it? "C-Can I have my sword back, please?"

Ciel's responds is to slightly shift the location of her elbow and press down on the blade even harder. The sword, a cheap mass-produced work, cannot stand the pressure and snaps in half, disarming the cat girl.

…Yep, the white fang member sadly notes to herself that that is a possible answer as well. Kitty is awaiting to get punched, bracing herself and closing her eyes for impact. When even after a few seconds she feels nothing, she opens her eyes in surprise. Indeed, Ciel did not strike her. Instead she's just standing there… menacingly! Ciel's basically taunting Kitty, awaiting whatever the faunus is going to do next.

It's pretty clear what Kitty's best option is right now. She takes two large strides to the right before jumping off the ship's railing. Better have her aura taking the hit from falling several dozen feet into water then to get pummeled by a martial arts master who snaps swords in half like it's nothing.

Ciel has one last thought about her former opponent: "Good choice."

In the meantime Weiss summons a line of glyphs on the ground straight between her and captain Tick. This part of her semblance lets her remove the friction of the floor, clearing the space between them in a single fast thrust. Tick does not see the attack coming, but his second in command Pearl does. She strikes at Weiss with her spear, forcing the heiress to jump sideways and abandon her attack. Pearl takes the initiative, making another four stabs at Scorpio's leader that only barely get parried. More and more stabs are made, each a clear strike to a location that would be deadly without aura. Weaving and bobbing between the strikes Weiss tries to create an opening to strike at.

Weiss recalls her old lessons with Winter, who taught her about the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon. It was originally meant to help the heiress decide which weapon best suits her, but the wisdom it gives can be applied in a more diverse manner. According to the Atlesian specialist spears hold the advantage of range and striking speed compared to other melee weapons, but because the spear tip is so far removed from the wielder they can't attack if the enemy gets up close and personal. It's one of the major reasons Weiss went with a rapier instead of a spear, and now it's time to prove why her weapon is better!

With the knowledge of her sister's lessons Weiss charges in close, getting closer than Pearl can strike with the tip of her spear. Pearl doesn't attack the heiress in time, so Weiss can launch a counteroffensive by stabbing her rapier straight at the faunus' heart.

Pearl is forced to use her weapon defensively, holding it close to her body, and most importantly the spearpoint close to Weiss' weapon. Well, spearpoints. The top of the spear splits in two, turning the monodent into a bident.

The stab gets caught between the two prongs of the bident, and with swiftness Pearl pushes the weapon sideways. The stab sails harmlessly past Pearl's body, Myrtenaster quickly being pushed out of Weiss' range. Not wanting to be disarmed Weiss feels her body getting pulled by her rapier, her stance now broken and form defenseless. The enemy takes good advantage of that to make a strike with the blunt end of the weapon, hitting Weiss hard enough that she would've broken several ribs if she didn't have aura. The strike was powerful enough to send the young girl flying, crashing against a container two dozen yards away.

With some pain Weiss stands up, feeling a decent portion of her aura missing. Stupid weapon-thing. Normal weapons should have a melee part and a gun part. Sniper-scythe, laser-swords, dust-revolver-rapier. That makes sense. Why the hell does someone try to master a spear-spear? And worst of all, why did Weiss get tricked by such a stupid weapon? It's infuriating!

Pearl cockily walks up to her opponent, enjoying the sight of pain on the Schnee with a gleeful smirk. "Well well, looks like I'm bagging a Schnee today. I can only imagine how much your dear old dad would pay us if we took you ransom. Though I think with my crew you might end up as… 'Damaged goods', so to say."

Weiss doesn't look even slightly unnerved by these provocations. This is not the first time she's been taunted by faunus scum, and it probably won't be the last. There's no reason to give this bandit a victory, be it by words or deeds. Standing up she responds with a taunt of her own. "That would imply you have the skills to beat me. I think you will find yourself sorely mistaken if you try." Weiss smirks, her rapier held in stance to strike. "Now, shall I teach you how to fight?"

Pearl counters with her own smirk, readying her bident to strike. "Heh. Bring it!" The two of them charge at one another, ready to continue the fight.

With Weiss taking the second in command Ruby is left to face off against the captain of the White Fang, their part of the fight moving towards the front deck. Say what you want, there is a reason he's the captain of his crew. His skills with his multi-round flintlock saber are incredible, as he parries Ruby's initial assault with ease. It wouldn't be surprising if he's been to a huntsmen academy.

Scythe meets saber, metal clashing against metal. The length of Ruby's weapon gives her a range advantage, forcing the captain on the back foot. Even so the captain still looks fresh and comfortable, able to make some friendly banter with his enemy:

"Aye, that be some skills of the scythe, me beauty! Ye may even best me were we on land, but me crew won't lose here at the briny deep!"

Ruby has no idea what that means, and she honestly doesn't care. These people are trying to rob her partner's property… future property, and like hell Ruby will allow that to happen to her bestie better than the restie!

Crescent Rose's swings come from all directions, flowing in a beautiful pattern that would make uncle Qrow proud. Each of the hits is meant to destroy and kill, to take down the so-called pirate king of Solitas. Of course, the king wouldn't be a king if he only had mediocre skills. He manages to dodge and parry all the swings, patiently waiting for an opening.

Critically observing the motions of his enemy Tick waits until he sees Ruby make a sideways swing. It's the first move in the girl's pattern that she's performed twice by now, and the previous time he tried to parry it. This time he has a better idea:

As the scythe closes in Tick jumps backwards, the scythe barely ruffling his White Fang uniform. With the reaper's attack whiffing it is time to make a counterattack: The pirate's weapon changes from saber form to flintlock form, six bullets shot in a single draw. Ruby is unable to dodge, the bullets slamming into her stomach and sending her flying back into one of the dust containers.

Her mind still wobbly Ruby stands up, assessing damage. Aura's down to sixty percent, sight is still a bit blurry, and the captain is lunging at her with his sabre, planning to turn her into a Ruby kebab.

Okay, that's not good!

Ruby brings up her scythe and parries the first blow. Tick isn't discouraged and turns his next attack into an overhead swing, bringing down lots of strength on Ruby. The young huntress is forced to block the strike with the pole of her scythe, the sound of metal on metal filling the surroundings.

The two weapons clash with one another, turning a contest of skill into a contest of strength. Both pirate and huntress try to overpower the other, pushing the opponent down so that an opening will present itself. Tick bashes his head against Ruby, slightly dipping both parties' aura yet neither of them flinching from the sudden pain. Silver eyes stare into yellow ones, the owner of the former smiling as he is winning the struggle. Ruby is ready to use her semblance to rush out of this deadlock, but turns surprised as it is her enemy who ends the clash instead:

"No. nonono." Tick has become absolutely terrified of Ruby, jumping away as if the girl suddenly turned into a hideous grimm. Even his faux accent gets dropped completely. "Not those eyes… and that scythe…"

"Ehm… are we still fighting?" Tick may be Ruby's opponent, but that doesn't mean that she will dishonorably slay a terrified enemy, especially if he's feeling unwell. "I mean, you can just flee, y'know?"

Tick ignores his opponent, trying to pump new resolve in his fearing body. "You never came back after trying to hunt that monstrous silver-eyed scythe wielder." With a loud war cry Tick replenishes his spirit, eyes blazing with newfound power. "Granny Tock, here's a promise o' me: I shall avenge thee!"

O great, his cheesy pirate voice is back too.

With renewed vigor Tick launches himself at the red reaper, the speed of his attacks even faster. Now on the defensive Ruby is forced to use gunblasts of her scythe to keep up the distance, making sure that the pirate king doesn't succeed with his rushdown tactics to get close and stab the girl many times.

A bullet from the flintlock breaks through Ruby's guard, hitting her in the shoulder and causing her to let out a yelp of pain. Tick swings in with the saber part of his weapon, but Ruby manages to graze the weapon by setting her semblance into overdrive. Jumping up to a nearby container she fires a few potshots at Tick, who either dodges or parries them all.

In a single jump Tick goes after Ruby, landing on the front end of the container that Ruby is also standing on. "Aye, t'was fun fighting ye, poppet, but th' time fer games be over. Surrender now or I'll skewer yer gizzard!"

Ruby doesn't answer. Instead she points the gun barrel of Crescent Rose at her enemy, using her free hand to tell Tick to "bring it", as they say.

The Pirate king smiles cockily, quickly reloading the gun part of his multi-round flintlock saber before going into combat stance. "So be it! T' Davy Jones' locker with ye, wench!"

The two run at each other, weapons drawn, prepared to bring home the victor-

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

A devastating primal roar, horrifying enough to haunt dreams, echoes all over the ship. Ruby and Tick stop fighting each other to see what kind of monster is making that noise. Out there in the ocean do they find their answer:

A single grimm standing a few hundred feet tall, standing comfortably in depths where even ocean liners can sail. A large humanoid reptilian creature with a dolphin-like head, gills to breathe underwater, and large webbed arms that can crush ships.

It's one giant beastie that fills one's heads with nightmares. Worst of all, it seems attracted to all the negative emotions from the fight on the Sternenstaub. The fighting all over the ship stops, realizing that they have a bigger problem to deal with. Ruby and Tick look at each other, reading the fear evident in each other's eyes.

"Truce?"

"Truce."

* * *

Team Vibrant has been having a pretty good time at Beacon thus far. Aside from all the learning and studying they've been hanging out together, kicking ass during combat class and spending their free time rather normally. Today would've been another ordinary day, were it not for a small altercation to their original plan:

At lunch a message came in on the scrolls of all four girls, granting them a bit of fortune: Professor Port send them a message that he has been forced to fight a horde of Goliath grimm during the weekend. He singlehandedly killed the beasts with a single devastating chop of his weapon after a long and strenuous battle. This made him slip into a cold lake, which gave our manly hero the flu.

Disregarding whether that story is true or not, what matters is that the Grimm studies lessons in the midday will not continue, giving the first years at Beacon some free time that must be well-spend. Time that Yang knows perfectly well how to spend with her team:

"Seeing that we've got some free time on our hands, let's have some fun together!"

…

The response of her team is rather quiet. Like it always is, honestly. Blake and Ilia are seriously contemplating it, while Vernal scoffs and opposes Yang's idea like usual. One in favor, one against, with two yet undecided. The other pair of Vibrant is still deciding, until Ilia mentions that they can visit Tukson's and see if he has some new books. That remark swings the team opinion in Yang's favor, and Vernal is forced to relent:

"I never did manage to completely get the stains out of my pants. I guess a trip can't hurt."

"It's decided, then. Let's go!"

After some minutes of preparation team Vibrant takes a bullhead to central Vale. The center of the metropolis is filled with shopping streets, offering plenty of possibilities for the group to find whatever they want.

Yang takes the lead, and not only because that is her role at the academy. With her partner growing up in Mistral and the other two claiming they're from Atlas the only one who knows Vale at the back of her hand is the patch-born blonde. Sure, the others have been in the center twice or thrice before, but they don't know the ins and outs like Yang does!

With the general store on the academy grounds the students don't need to shop for things like toiletries or stationary stuff. No, VYBA can go directly to the main course:

Clothes shopping!

Of all the types of shops in Vale, none are as specialized and unique as the clothing stores. From gothic to vintage, skater to hippy, urban to outdoor or jeans to swimwear; every store sells unique types of clothing. Due to the victory of individualism at the end of the great war the number of unique clothing stores boomed exponentially after everyone tried to dress in their own unique style. This goes especially for huntsmen, where this individualism provided immense advantages compared to regulated uniforms.

After all, why does aura protect not only the body, but the clothes as well? A several-year study from Vacuan researchers figured out that what aura precisely protects is what is deemed as "yourself". If a huntsman wears clothes that he likes and fit him the aura will recognize the clothes as part of himself, and thus will be protected by aura. If the clothing does not fit his style, the aura will not protect the clothes. It's why each huntsman has such a unique style of clothing, and why the students never fight in school uniform unless they're desperate.

Still, just because aura doesn't protect uniforms doesn't mean that everyone only needs a single outfit. Yang has enough clothes to fill a large wardrobe, but there's always room for more!

With Yang leading the group it's no surprise that the first shop they visit is a classic for Yang. D+B, the perfect shop to get yourself some club wear. The other girls quickly find out that it's selling a bit more risqué clothes. Miniskirts, tops, knee-high boots, there's even a collection of bikinis! With apprehension the rest of the team follows Yang into the store, not sure whether they'll like it or not.

To the surprise of Vibrant Yang's choice of shop had surprisingly much overlap with their own tastes. Even Vernal looks surprised upon finding a pair of leather shorts akin to her old one. Only Ilia is looking somewhat uncomfortable in this shop, her tastes being just a tad different. She takes a seat at the coffee table, content with watching Blake try out various pieces of clothing.

Yang is done the soonest, having found nothing for herself. On the other hand, she did find a nice vest-blouse combo for Ruby. The black vest over white blouse will up her baby sister's sexiness while still retaining her cuteness! The only problem is that the outfit is rather thin. With her sis now living in Atlas this is not that great of a gift anymore, she would freeze in these clothes!

Returning to the rest of the group she sees Blake trying out some black knee-high boots and denim miniskirt, with the other teammates commenting on the outfit. Ilia is as emptyhanded as her leader, but Vernal is planning to buy some leather shorts along with a studded belt. As Yang walks past another rack of clothing she suddenly sees something nice for both her and Blake…

Meanwhile Blake must say that she's not that impressed with these boots she's trying. The leather is nice, but the straps at the back of the shoe are uncomfortable. On the other hand, the black denim miniskirt is looking quite nice on her. Though compression shorts are still her all-time favorite this type of legwear isn't that bad either every once in a while.

"Hey Blakey!" Yang call out to Blake in a rather playful nature, which usually means trouble for whomever holds Yang's attention. Looking at the culprit Blake's suspicions are proven correctly, horror now welling up inside her:

There the team leader stands, holding a pair of bikinis. A yellow one for herself and a black one for Blake. Chic black meets white lace, all coming together for a very sexy and very risqué swimsuit. Yang might have no problems with hers, but Blake is not interested. Politely she tries to refuse, but Yang keeps up the pressure to try out the swimwear together. If this continues… no, Blake has no other choice!

Blake pulls out a small black ball from her chest pocket, throwing it on the ground as she shouts out the name of her secret technique:

"Ninja Vanish!"

A puff of smoke fills Blake's position for a second or three, and when the smoke clears Vibrant's ninja disappeared. Yang looks around in search of her teammate only to find Blake at the check-out, fully clothed and paying for the black denim miniskirt.

"How? When?" How did she do that in mere seconds? It doesn't make any sense! "What just happened?!"

Vernal is stunned as well, while Ilia gives a soft chuckle at her teammates' awe. The brown-haired girl stands up from her seat, realizing that with Blake done none of the remainder has much incentive to stay, unless Yang wants to try that bikini by herself.

After seeing Blake's technique Yang is also done with D+B. Yang and Vernal leave the store stupefied, while the other pair share a slight smirk at the expense of their teammates.

It doesn't last for long, as the leader of the quartet has another shop she wants to enter: A storefront that's mostly in black and yellow, it's punkish style obvious not only from the clothing in the windows but also its name:

Tigre Punks.

While it's not Yang's main style the shop does sell clothes in her colors, and there's quite often a piece of clothing that fits her wants and needs. There's no reason not to bring a small visit to this place.

The other members of Vibrant can agree with that. While punk's nobody's main style and yellow is a color that only Yang predominantly wears, black is a supportive color that can go with almost all outfits.

So too is it for Vernal, who finds a pair of black and dark purple lace-up work boots. Made of material strong enough to survive a trek through rough nature, and its colors fit well enough with the rest of her outfit. Trying out these boots the nomad enjoys the comfortability and support she obtains with this footwear. These are honestly amazing!

Vernal has obtained a great pair of shoes, but she won't be the only one leaving the store with new clothes: Yang walks up to her partner, wearing a new vest on her body: A sleeveless biker vest, mostly yellow but with black tiger stripes.

Excitedly Yang asks her partner for an opinion about this vest: "So, what do you think? Looks pretty cool, huh?"

It's quite true. The colors are right, the style is right… there's only one problem with it that Vernal can think of: "Since when do you wear tiger-based design, miss 'sunny dragon'?" Mistrallean myth tells that dragons and tigers are natural enemies, there's something wrong about a dragon-themed girl wearing tiger clothes.

"Eh, if that's all you're worried about I'll take it." Yang does not see the same problem. In fact, she deflects it. "After all, these stripes aren't tiger stripes. They're obviously bee stripes."

Really? "Bee stripes." That's what you're going with, Yang?

"Yeah, bee stripes totally fit with dragons. I mean, they're essentially tiny dragons themselves! Why do you think I named my bike after one?"

"…Disregarding whether bees are dragons," Which is such a stupid idea that merely bringing it up will bring more folly upon the team, "I'm pretty sure that those are tiger stripes."

"Oh? How so?"

Vernal can't believe she has to explain this. "Well, apart from the fact that your vest has a thin furred layer…"

"So? Bees have fur too."

"…let alone the fact that the stripe lines are diagonal and asymmetrical like a tiger…"

"Which is something some bees have too,"

"perhaps the most obvious sign is that we're in a shop that's literally named 'Tiger punks'!"

Yang blows Vernal's comment off as thoughtless. After all, they don't only sell Bee-themed stuff in 'Bee happy', so why should they do so here? Vernal wants to rage at her partner's stupidity, but luckily there are two other team members able to give their opinion:

Blake and Ilia haven't been successful in finding new clothes, but they are somewhat happy to see that their teammates did. "Hey there," Blake greets, noticing the new clothes. "That's a nice bee vest, Yang."

"It would fit when you wear it while riding your bike." Ilia adds, both agreeing that it's bee themed. Vernal stares in astonishment at her teammates, while Yang gives her partner a smug look.

No. Vernal won't accept this. She cannot accept this. Quickly she pulls over a store clerk, ready to get a second opinion from an actual professional. A store clerk comes over, politely trying to help.

"Good day, miss. How can I help you?" He asks, trying his best to help. Looking behind Vernal he sees the other three standing close. "Or is this perhaps about the Bees Biker Vest that your friend is wearing?"

And with that Vernal lost all the will to keep this fight going, now angrily storming off to the check-out with her pair of boots. "That it! Forget it! I'm done! Take your bees and drown in them, but I'm done with this bull!"

Vernal stomps off, the rest of her team and the clerk watching her do so. When Vernal is out of hearing range the rest stop stifling their sniggers, clearly enjoying the prank. Yang turns to the clerk and thanks him for playing along.

"No problem. Please do enjoy the Tiger Biker Vest. If necessary, we can customize the outfit to make it more bee-like."

Yang will keep that in mind for later as she buys the vest. There's no time to adjust the vest today, there are still many more shops that Vibrant needs to crash!

Of course, the rest of Vibrant doesn't want to continuously go to shops their leader frequently visits. The BA of the team found a shop they want to visit, preventing Yang from getting a triple… or does she? A shop called Lapin Angelique, even though it's not Yang's type of clothing she did frequently visit this place. It is after all Ruby's favorite shop, being so gothic that you would think her little sis was born inside of it.

Yang stays on the sidelines as the rest of the team tries to find something in their own style. She reminisces about past visits. That corset over there was her birthday gift for Ruby's thirteenth birthday, oh, and these stuffed leggings were bought recently for her trip to Atlas academy. Man, there's even that blond wig Ruby bought as a joke for the full-blonde family photo!

"Hey Yang." Coming up to the blonde is Ilia, ready to show off a new piece of clothing. Yang snaps out of her thoughts and turns around, looking… up at Ilia?

In front of Yang is Ilia, standing a good inch or two taller that Yang. Now Ilia isn't short by any means. With a height of 5'4" she is of average height for a woman. When compared to Blake and Vernal's 5'6" or Yang's 5'8" she is easily the smallest of the team, especially since Yang is wearing two-inch heels herself. Something's up so Yang's gaze trails down, all the way to the floor:

"Nice shoes." The shoes Ilia is wearing, if you can call them that, are platform shoes with a rather excessive sole and heel height. "Can you walk in those?" Though combat heels aren't uncommon amongst female huntresses, with everyone on team VYBA wearing them, they are sensible enough to keep their heels at one or two inches. These abominations are completely unfit for any huntress-related business!

"Of course. Just look." Ilia replies confidently, walking away from her team leader. Though Ilia tries to hide it Yang can see that her teammate needs all her skill to stay stable on those shoes. It comes as no surprise that Ilia is unable to regain her balance after a small stumble. With widely flailing arms and a wobbling body Ilia tries to recover, but only a second later she smashes face-first into the ground.

Yang walks over to her teammate, extending a helping hand. "Everything okay?"

Ilia stays silent for a second or two, before responding with a groan. "…ow."

"Ow indeed." Yang replies with a laugh, "I don't think these shoes are a good fit for you."

Ilia grabs Yang's hand and sits down on the floor. "I never planned to actually buy these shoes. I just wanted to see what they feel like."

"And?"

"Nevermore." Ilia takes off the shoes, and with a little help from Yang they come off easily. Now able to walk freely the brunette takes her teammate towards the shoe part of the shop, showing off a different set of shoes:

Another set of black platform shoes, but much more moderately sized. The sole is only an inch thick, and the heels only add an extra inch or so. Ilia puts them on and shows off how they look, walking around with the greatest of ease.

Yeah, those look nice. Much better than the monstrosities she wore before. Yang agrees with Ilia on these shoes, and so too do the other members of the team after reuniting within the shop. With these recommendations Ilia has no reason not to buy this footwear. Ilia leaves Lapin Angelique ninety lien poorer, but with a pair of amazing shoes!

After a short coffee break the team goes to one of the more expensive brand shops in the city. Dragon Couture, a trending brand that Yang only gives a thought because of the name. Style-wise it fits Blake better, which is why the team enter the store mainly for her.

The store focuses on the higher classes, with lots of dresses and suits dominating the storefront. With prices ranging in the hundreds of lien for them, the team instead tries their luck at a different piece of clothing:

Shoes!

Yeah, there's a bunch of beautiful shoes around, almost everyone finds a nice pair. Blake has a pair of sleek mules adorned with buckle accents, while Yang goes for vividly colored enamel heels. Yang likes the stylish practicality of the shoes, while Blake must admit that her shoes go well with her newly bought skirt. There is only one problem…

The shoes are kind of expensive, which is to be expected of this brand. Each set of shoes is somewhat over a hundred lien, an expensive expenditure for two academy students. Blake ponders over whether she should buy them or not. The decider comes out of an unexpected corner, as it is her partner that is the cincher:

Ilia, slightly blushing, compliments Blake on the shoes: "Those shoes look really nice on you. Ehm, if you need, I can help you buy them."

"That won't be necessary." Blake takes off her shoes, before her smile mellows out to Ilia. "But, thanks for the offer." If Ilia thinks the shoes look good on her, then perhaps they're worth a buy. If necessary, there are always old sources from which Blake can mooch money in a pinch. Perhaps a single splurge of money can be acceptable every now and then.

Leaving Dragon Couture with two new pairs of shoes the group seeks out a new shop, only to be surprised by Vernal:

"Hey, can we enter that shop there?"

Vernal, the person most staunchly opposed to this shopping idea, sees something she wants? As if wanting to celebrate Yang agrees, looking excitedly to what Vernal wants…

…Only for her enthusiasm to dry out immediately.

"Hip Snake?" Yang is familiar with the shop, yes, but only because that's where her father shops. The thought of Vernal dressing just like her dad, it sends a shiver through Yang's spine. "Didn't know you were going for such an outdated look, Vernal."

Yang's accusation is worth an eyeroll at best, as Vernal enters the shop. The rest of the team follows closely after, trying to somehow amuse themselves… or at least not get bored to death. For Yang this turns into a game of "Which clothing does my father own". Going through the racks she finds a copy of her father's favorite cargo shorts, a few shirts… Oh, there's the tacky straw fedora that Taiyang wore once before stuffing it in the closet after uncle Qrow laughed his ass off upon seeing the headwear! It's probably the best thing this store has done for her in forever.

After ten agonizing minutes Vernal is finally done shopping, having decided on a pair of red and brown bandannas. Yang at least recognizes the red one, being the same bandanna that her father wears around the arm. Yeah, Vernal's choice in clothing is rather… questionable.

As they walk out of the shop Yang needs her questions answered: "Say Vernal, why do you like this shop so much? Don't tell me you only wanted to shop here because I don't like Hip Snake."

"Come now, don't overestimate yourself." Vernal's response is slightly malicious, perhaps because this turned in some form of revenge for that 'Bee Vest' Yang bought at Tigre Punks. Still, the real reason she wanted to shop here is different: "For us nomads, resources are key. We don't want to let anything of what we hunt let go to waste. Hip Snake tries to do the same by using the materials other brands discarded. If anything, I can respect that."

"Huh." Is that so? Though it is still the brand her father shops at, and decidedly uncool, Yang does understand why Vernal might want to shop there. "I guess that's somewhat respectable." It's still a dad store in Yang's mind, but as far as dad stores go this one is okay in Yang's mind.

The next stop for team Vibrant is a shop called Pegaso… and within a minute the team went out of the store. This did not happen because the clothing inside the store is not fashionable. No, Pegaso brands are considered the crème de la crème in many social circles and wearing an outfit from this brand is guaranteed to make you the queen of the night. It's also not because it wasn't the style of the girls, as Blake found a beautiful purple dress tailored in the traditional Mistral style. It would be the perfect gala dress for the black-haired member of Vibrant, were it not for one problem:

The dress costs more than a thousand lien. Damn, even if the team pooled all their money together, they would only barely have enough to buy the dress!

With some disappointment the group continues shopping. Quickly they came upon another store, Sheep Heavenly. Mostly famous for its wool usage and comfy feeling, it's where Ruby always got her sleeping wear.

Its style is cute, its colors vibrant, and two of its potentially customers look seriously put off with this place:

"Do we really have to enter?" Blake is less than thrilled to enter this store, and Vernal also looks annoyed at the idea.

"Eh, if you wanna wait." Yang doesn't need her teammates to stay together all the time. "Maybe you want to visit something else while I go shopping here with Ilia?"

Vernal looks around and sees another shop on the opposite side of the street. J of the M, featuring urban and sporty clothing. Though not exactly Vernal's style, the chance of it having at least one article of clothing in Vernal's style is magnitudes greater than here at Sheep Heavenly. Blake also prefers that store over this cutesy shop, so Vibrant splits up in two.

Yang and Ilia enter their store, where they split up in search for clothing. Yang goes over several shirts and pants, but nothing is truly within her style. She used to come here more when she was younger, together with Ruby. Though it's not aimed at kids, the store does have a cute imago that does not really go that well with a bombshell like Yang. It would be better for someone with a lithe body, like Ruby…

"Hey Yang, what do you think? Does this look good on me?"

…or Ilia. Turning around Yang sees Ilia dressed in Sheep Heavenly clothes: an aqua blue blouse with puff sleeves over cargo capris with cute ribbons. She twirls around, giving Yang a good look at the outfit as she lets out a small smile.

"It's… it's adorable!" This is the first time Yang's seen Ilia being this cute. Honestly, with that outfit she just wants to hug her teammate like she used to do with Ruby. "Man, with such a sweet look you're going to get all the guys after you!"

At that Ilia loses her smile, now looking a bit annoyed. "Perhaps I shouldn't buy this." Yang doesn't understand, nothing she said should've made Ilia suddenly unhappy. Ilia walks away, ready to take it off and forget all about the outfit.

"Don't!" Yang cannot let Ilia make that mistake, to let such a nice outfit slip by. "Ilia, that look really suits you. It doesn't matter what you do with it, but I can guarantee that it looks nice on you. If you don't believe me, just as Blake or Vernal, they will say the same."

Mentioning that does cheer Ilia up a bit. "Sigh… then I guess I will." With that Ilia has a new outfit for herself. Yang looks around a bit more, but eventually decides against a pair of citrus-colored shorts. It's just Ilia who walks out the shop with new clothes.

As Yang and Ilia leave Sheep Heavenly they are greeted by the other two members of their team resting on a bench. It appears that their visit at J of the M didn't take that long.

"What's wrong? Tired already?"

"It was blue." Vernal mutters these words almost like a mantra, like she still cannot believe it. "Everything was blue."

The visitors from Sheep Heavenly don't understand and need an explanation. Blake repeats what was said but gives a bit more of an explanation: "Everything was blue. There was a nice tanktop, but it was blue. I asked if they had it in black or white or purple, but no. It was only in blue."

"I asked this skinny orange-haired store clerk if they had a jacket in brown, or maroon, or scarlet." Vernal confirms what Blake is saying, being equally aghast at the shop's offer. "But no! He said that their clothes are all blue. Everything!"

Yang can barely believe this. She enters the store, ready to see how exaggerated her teammates' claims are. Two minutes later she leaves the store, looking like she just saw a ghost. Worriedly Ilia asks what is wrong, and Yang can only answer one thing:

"It was blue. Everything was blue." Blake and Vernal give Yang a look of 'I told you so'. "No yellow, no browns, just blue." Yang shudders as she recalls the shop. "Let's… Let's just move on."

The four leave the street, continuing their shopping spree. Three of the girls are momentarily feeling rather blue about clothes, so perhaps it is time for a small change of pace:

Pavo Real is not a clothing store. Instead it is a jeweler, selling jewelry and painted nails. Though its price range comes close to that of Pegaso, it has more range in its costs so that there is even some cheap stuff for students.

Blake once again found something: a beautiful silver bracelet that would go wonderfully with the purple dress from the Pegaso store. It goes along so well that Blake almost had a heart attack when she read the price:

"1500 lien?!" Hanging her head in sadness, she murmurs why all the good stuff must be so expensive. First at Pegaso, now here at Pavo Real… Damn these humans and their capitalistic money-grubbing business!

Yang wraps an arm around her teammate, trying to cheer her up. Perhaps they will find something at the next store, and Yang knows exactly where to go next! There's only one problem: Blake does not seem too thrilled about the store:

"Natural… puppy?"

Blake sounds quite apprehensive of entering this place. Her body enters the fight-or-flight state, ready to run away if necessary.

"Yeah, Natural Puppy." Yang looks puzzled by Blake's negativity, not clearly able to understand that. "What, you got something against puppies?"

"N-No!" Okay, yes, Blake does have something against puppies. Well, all canines for that matter, but her lupus-hating nature is not the problem with this shop. It's more that the clothing of the shop is all so… non-Blake. "This place is just too colorful for me."

Indeed, the shop features brightly colored clothes, the two mannequins in the storefront wearing a pink camisole and a light-green one-piece respectively. For someone who dresses in monochrome colors this doesn't seem like the right shop to visit. It doesn't deter Yang from trying to get Blake to enter.

"I don't know about that. I mean, I think the clothes in this shop are rather vibrant." Yang looks rather pleased with her pun, hoping to see one of her teammates laugh. "Eh? Eh?"

Instead it has the opposite effect, as Blake steps away from the store. Only an apology from Yang gets Blake to enter, stepping into the colorful world of Natural Puppy.

3 seconds in and Blake already hates it. She wants to step out, but Yang does not want to leave until they find something for Blake. All other team members are busy searching, as Blake sits down on one of the chairs to look at the breaking news on her scroll.

SDC opening a new factory in Mantle… A grimm Leviathan being spotted in the seas around Argus… The Vacuan government approving of a new huntsmen registration act… Blake would like to take a more in-depth look at these articles, but disappointingly enough her teammates need to interrupt her with pieces of clothing she has no interest in.

Yang shows up with a yellow-tinted polo, claiming that goes well with Blake's eyes. The response is quick and simple:

"No."

Only a few seconds later Vernal comes up with a purple hat with a silk flower accent, a hat in Blake's tertiary color.

"No."

Yang has already found a new piece of clothing, a pink dress tha-

"No!"

Blake is getting annoyed. This shop doesn't have anything she likes, so nobody comes up with anything good! Now Ilia is trying, coming up with a black turtleneck shir-

"N-Hm?" Wait, black turtleneck shirt? Blake takes the shirt from Ilia with her into a nearby fitting room. After putting it on she gazes in the mirror, quite pleased with the results. It's simple yet sexy, though a bit on the heavy side. Luckily the shirt is made of cotton, like her other clothes that she modified herself before Beacon. Perhaps if she cut off part of the sleeves, as well as part of the bottom… sew a bit here and there… yes, this could work!

After paying for the clothes a satisfied Blake leaves the store with her new turtleneck shirt in tow. She's pleasantly surprised, while Yang looks rather smug at her happy teammate: "I think we all just learned something here."

"Sometimes you find a grail in the garbage?" Blake retorts dispassionately, having a feeling for what Yang's lesson is but no interest in admitting it.

Ilia comes up with another possibility, putting more weight on the friendships inside of the shops: "A true friend can provide help in even the most desolate of places?"

Both lessons have some merit, but for Yang they're only side objectives compared to the real. "I think that Blake should learn not to judge a book by its cover."

The rest of the team falls silent, not so much because it's a truly valuable life lesson but because Yang managed to slip in another bad pun. Blake and Ilia have no comment, but Vernal might have an even better lesson to learn:

"I think the real lesson of today is 'Yang's puns are still atrocious'."

Blake and Ilia nod in agreement, this being something that they can all agree on. Vernal gives a smirk at her partner, laughing off the ridicule. Yang is sure to return the favor sometime soon; she can't let her partner go free after insulting the supreme puns!

Their hands filled with shopping bags team Vibrant is now walking on 27th street, led on by the B of their team. The shop Ilia and Blake want to go to is at the end of this street, number 282. It's still a few dozen buildings away, and Yang has one or two more stores she wants to visit, including the next one:

Wild Boar. A shop mostly famous for its skater looks, it's not the first place you would imagine the huntresses to go looking for clothes. Well, three of them. Only Yang comes semi-regularly here, sometimes picking up a piece of new clothing that fits her style.

The other three just sit down at one of the waiting tables as Yang goes through the racks searching for that one perfect piece of clothing. The other three are just content with sitting down, taking a small rest from today's activities.

"Hey, check this out!" Interrupting the girls is Yang, dressed up are ready to roll out: A black tank-top with bright golden logos giving it some street bling, over brown half-length shorts with tribal markings. "So, what'cha think?"

Blake is not sure how to bring it. "It's… well…"

"Meh." Vernal follows up, Blake agreeing with how Vernal brought it. "That doesn't suit you at all."

The only one with a compliment is Ilia: "The pants are nice, though."

"Jeez, I get it. I'll find something else." Yang goes back to try something else, as the rest continues their conversation.

Three more outfits are tested by Yang, but none of them are considered that good by the others. Yang leaves the shop with only the tribal half-length pants of the first set she tried.

With no major clothing stores left between team Vibrant and their goal the team is done with getting new clothes. All four of them managed to obtain a new outfit, maybe only needing an accessory or two to perfect the look. Now it is time to do what Blake and Ilia wanted to and go towards Tukson's Book Store.

Just from the name the shop's purpose should be obvious. Given that those two are avid readers it's not a surprise that they wanted to visit this place. Keeping an interest in her teammates Yang curiously asks more about the shop:

"So, what's Tukson like?"

Blake and Ilia look at one another, trying to best come up with a description for the store owner. After ten seconds of thinking Blake believes she has a good explanation:

"He's… a collector."

"?" Yang doesn't exactly understand what is meant by that and needs clarification. Ilia is happy to continue where her partner left off:

"He takes pride in owning as many books as possible. If it were up to Tukson he would try to have at least one copy of every book in existence."

"Seriously?"

"I once sought a book he didn't have yet. He not only offered to send the book by mail when he received it, I also got half discount for that book."

It's not hard to see why this duo is so lyrical about this Tukson. Perhaps Yang would like to read more if she had a supplier like this guy. "Sounds like he's got a lot of books."

Ilia snorts at that, claiming that Yang doesn't even know the half of it. With them now standing in front of the store the brown-haired girl points at the window of the store, where the slogan of Tukson's book trade is written. Yang reads the motto out loud, only half believing what it says: "Home to every book under the sun." Blake and Ilia did say it before, but would he really have that much books? It sounds like false advertising.

"It's almost true." Blake replies. "He does come quite close."

Upon opening the door Yang almost believes the slogan. Yeah, that's a lot of books! There must be thousands of books scattered though this shop. If Yang were as avid a reader as her teammates she would want to shop here as often as possible!

Looking around the store Yang searches for her types of books. And with books, she means comics. Which are located near the front of the store. Neat!

Let's see… X-Ray and Vav, Camp Camp, Red vs Blue… o hey, Nomad of Nowhere! Yang hasn't read that one before. As far as the reviews go it's supposed to be quite good. Perhaps Yang should give it a shot, she has enough money left to buy a comic or two.

Vernal is just walking randomly through the store, looking for practical books instead of sappy love stories. Cooking, survival, travel guides, most of them get a quick skim by the girl before she puts it back on the shelf.

Blake and Ilia walk over to the counter, dinging the bell to alert the owner to their presence. From back in the store a voice says that he's coming soon. Some seconds later a tall, broad man comes up from the room behind the counter, carrying a large load of books.

"Welcome to Tukson's book trade, home to every book under the su-" Tukson briefly pauses as he realizes who are standing in front of the counter. "Miss Belladonna; miss Amitola. A pleasure to see you two again. How can I help you?"

"Is 'The Third Crusade' already out?" Ilia asks, her tone lacking curiosity. Tukson widens one eye in surprise, his body standing straight and less relaxed. Calmly he apologizes to the two girls, before claiming that it will soon be.

"How about your two friends over there, are they also interested in 'The Third Crusade'?"

"It's not their genre." Ilia shakes her head. "Though, they might be interested after we explain it to them… later."

Tukson understands and asks the two girls why they're here. Blake pulls out a book from one of her bags and hands it to the storekeeper. "This book is our main concern."

Tukson gives it a look, mulling over the name. "'The red cardinal', huh? What is wrong with it?"

"Absolutely everything." Ilia says, getting somewhat excessively angry over what is supposed to be just a book. "It's blackened, covered in dirt, there's nothing good about all four parts of it, especially the first quarter of the book is beyond salvation."

"Hmm… that is sorry to hear." Tukson opens his scroll, making a few notes of this conversation. "I believe I still have a copy of the book. Would you like to try this book again?"

Blake shakes her head, claiming that she's lost interest. Tukson sighs and puts that down in his notes.

"I'm sorry to hear that. My apologies for selling you that book."

"Don't put the blame on you. Put it on the publisher." Ilia's face contorts with evil glee. "Make sure that they learn their lesson."

"I understand. I hope that not all books were bad?"

At this Blake smiles, even Ilia losing her anger. "Not at all. 'Love at the coffee café', 'Professor Juniper' and 'Vibrant lives' are a few examples of books which we enjoyed greatly. I would recommend these to your other customers."

"Of course. I'll write that down later." Tukson crouches down and opens one of the cupboards behind his counter, taking out a grey book with a white paper bookmark sticking out of it. "To make up for 'The red cardinal', can I recommend this book? I guarantee that it will keep you busy for the next month."

"We'll give it a try." Blake says with a small smile as she puts it in one of her backs. The tension between the trio disappears as Blake changes the subject: "Oh, is Violet's Garden out yet?"

The storekeeper flashes a smile, proudly claiming that he just got it: "I've put in on display in the second shelf on the left… which is about where your blonde friend is standing."

Blake walks away from the counter to the shelf but stops as she sees Yang holding a book in the air. "Got it!" she proudly proclaims, walking over to the counter and slamming a copy of Violet's Garden on top as well as the first three volumes of Nomad of Nowhere. "So, the book is on Blake and Ilia, the comics are for me, and… Hey Vernal, you got something?" Vernal shakes her head, so Yang returns her attention back to Tukson. "So, how much do we owe you?"

"The comics are four lien each and the book's ten. Do you two need anything else?"

With a "Nope!" Yang pays for her comics, and after that Blake pays ten for her book. Satisfied with their new wares the team walks out of Tukson's store, everyone's goal for today completed.

The twilight of dusk is setting in the streets of Vale, the first streetlamps lighting up telling Vibrant that their shopping day will soon be over. Overall Yang can conclude that her team has had a good shopping day. New clothes, new books, a few comics… yeah, these hours were well-spent.

There's about time for one more shop before the team must return to Beacon. Yang looks around, trying to find if there's something else in 27th street.

Music store? Perhaps if Ruby were here, but Yang's not really feeling it; Clothing store? Pass, they've already gotten enough clothes for today, it would certainly bore the rest of Vibrant; Dust store? Nope, Yang has her brand loyalty to From Dust 'til Dawn, with all the discounts she gets for customer loyalty there's no reason to switch.

Something else, something else… hey, what's that building over there? Fro'Go Frozen Yogurt? Well, There's always room for a cold snack like that!

Licking her lips in anticipation Yang offers the idea to the group: "Guys, anyone up for a Fro'Go? It's my treat."

With a shrug Vernal accepts the offer. "If you want to waste your money, who am I to stop you?" Heh. Yang has long since recognized the differences between Vernal's light smirks, and this one contains some genuine enjoyment. The other pair seems interested in the frozen treat as well. Sure, it will take a cut out of Yang's pocket money, but if it finishes an amazing day like this it's money well spend!

The quartet enter the store, which doesn't seem to be very busy even though it's already spring. Other than the shopkeeper there are only two customers, one male and one female. However, given that the old man behind the counter is terrified of the man and holding his hands in the air, it's clear that they're not your run-of-the-mill Fro'Go lovers.

"Come now, robbing a frozen yogurt store is a few steps beneath me. We're just here for a bit of food, and we don't need a five-finger discount."

It's the same person who was on the news a month ago, and has been coming up several times again: The face of criminal activity in Vale, standing right in front of them:

"Roman Torchwick?"

* * *

 **It's time for volume 2 of "A New World on her Shoulders" to start. It's not to be confused with volume 2 of canon, as this takes place before canon's volume two.**

 **This volume contains four times two stories of two chapters each, detailing fun and memorable moments from their school life at the academies. We hope that you will enjoy these stories.**

 **We've also got a question to answer:**

 **ChicaFenix88:** _ **Will there be BumbleBY and WhiteRose?  
**_ **I believe WeikWriter asked a similar question in 1-4. As I said before, I'm not an exceptional romance writer, so that's not where the focus of this fic lies. Romance will only get in if it serves the plot. But I suppose I can spoiler that romance will play a role in one of the stories in this volume.**


	10. Chapter 2-1

Ruby and Tick went back to the main deck, where both forces have stopped fighting. Both White Fang and SDC crew realize that as much as they hate the other party, it pales when compared to the hatred the grimm has for either of them.

Upon seeing the duo arrive the attention turns to them. The rest of team Scorpio wants to know Ruby's next plan, while the Fang wants to hear their captain give the orders for retreat.

Instead of retreat Tick goes to one of the crew members that seems important from the fancy insignia on his jacket. In a serious tone he asks about the condition of the Sternenstaub's crew. It turns out to not be that necessary, given that it's obvious from the surroundings: There's probably a few dozen of wounded on both sides, meaning that the Sternenstaub is understaffed.

No, that won't do. Tick gives his orders, loud enough for his companions to hear: "Fang! Load our wounded companions as well as the wounded SDC crew on the ships and have the coxswains bring them to Argus! Everyone else, help this ship's crew wherever you can!"

Many of the Fang are wary of those orders, not understanding why Tick wants to save a Schnee ship. The only reason they comply immediately is because for once Tick is acting seriously instead of like a pirate. After quickly carrying the wounded off the ship the Fang follow the SDC crew, each one to their own specializations. White Fang members capable in mechanics follow the chief engineer, the electricians the electro-technical officer, and the rest follow orders from the boatswain. Everyone gets in position, captain Morgen giving orders for escaping this monstrous grimm:

"Full speed ahead!" With the ship's crew bolstered by White Fang members the Sternenstaub can go beyond its limits, its speed faster than what should be possible. Sure, the engines are overheating and only not exploding thanks to tender management of the ship's engineers. When this is over there will be thousands of lien in repair costs that the SDC has to pay. So long as the ship doesn't sink that's an acceptable price for the crew's survival!

It does seem to work. The ship is sailing faster than the leviathan can walk, the grimm disappearing further and further into the background. Optimism fills the Sternenstaub, their likelihood of survival just increasing immensely.

The grimm is equally aware of its lack of speed. At this rate his prey will escape, something it cannot allow. Noticing the suddenly lack of negative emotions on the ship the leviathan realizes that these humans suffer the most awful of emotions:

Hope.

No, that won't do. As one of the more advanced species of grimm it is its job to turn that horrendous feeling into the much more palatable fear. To break this hope all that is needed is to show them their ignorance, the one thing they forget:

It can swim.

Falling on its belly the leviathan speeds towards the Sternenstaub, easily gaining back the distance the ship got while it was walking bipedally.

Horror dawns on the crew of the ship as they realize just how screwed they are. Their technology, even at top speed, is no match for the primal dark forces. The beast rises to its bipedal stance once more at a hundred feet from the ship. The waves this sudden mass displacement creates rocks the ship, making nearly all members of the crew stumble.

On the afterdeck of the Sternenstaub team Scorpio is recovering from the waves, as well as Dee, Dudley and the crew manning the back-end ballistae. They fire large javelins from these weapons, piercing half-way into the lower limbs of the beast. They don't seem to stop the grimm from attacking, as it is charging its ultimate attack:

Flames gather in the beast's neck as the gills on its shoulders glow bright orange. Crew members look terrified, some of them having accepted death while others try to save their own hide.

Ruby hasn't given up hope yet, but she's trying to think of something she can do to save the ship. What attack is strong enough to fight back. Thinking and thinking, going all the way back through Scorpio's history, the girl tries to come up with something… something powerful, something strong… The strongest attack within SCRP… wait!

"Penny! That giant laser thingy, against the spider droid! Can you fire that again?" It was able to cleave its way through solid metal; it should be able to do so again against this grimm!

The redhead seems to agree, as her swords spin in front of her. Green energy gathers in between these weapons, ready to attack.

The grimm shoots out a burst of electric fire, strong enough to demolish the ship with a single blow. To prevent that from happening Penny shoots back a giant green laser, hoping to carve through the leviathan itself.

Fire meets plasma in the middle of the two attackers, another beam war just like during initiation. Unlike then the beam war was more evenly matched, and the combat capacities of a spider droid pale in comparison to that of a leviathan. Penny is losing… badly.

The flames break through the laser with ease. As much as Penny tries, she can only somewhat diffuse the flame's power before she runs out of energy. Upon seeing the girl's defeat everyone tries to get off the after deck as soon as possible, all but one.

Weiss instead twirls around her axis twice, before thrusting her rapier at the flames. Glyph after glyph forms in the air, until a total of seven in a row form a barrier against the electric fire. Stabbing Myrtenaster into the deck causes all circles to shine brighter, turning from simple glyphs into a seven-layered barrier.

The flames crash into the shield. A burst of energy from one of the strongest types of grimm in existence, against perhaps the strongest semblance in the history of mankind.

A single glyph is as strong as the walls of Mantle. In the three generations of the Schnee family there hasn't been a single grimm able to break through even a single glyph.

But, the electrifying flames of the Leviathan drill through the glyphs like it's nothing. Within a second four glyphs are destroyed.

"Kuh…!" Weiss expected that a single glyph would not be enough. This is a monster with more firepower than a laser that can pierce through several meters of steel. In her opinion seven glyphs was excessive, but might it be that even that won't do?

The fifth and sixth glyph are destroyed. Each glyph lowered the power of the attack slightly, but there's still a lot of power left in the attack. With only a single glyph left the Schnee heiress lets out a war cry, refusing to let the last glyph break.

The power of mankind against the power of nature. One of them must surrender, and much as Weiss tries to succeed it won't be the power of nature!

The final glyph breaks. Weiss stumbles backwards, looking the last of the flames straight in the eye. Flames come crashing down on team Scorpio and the crewmembers, but it lacks the energy to consume the floor beneath them or do much else before flickering out of existence. Each huntress only lost a percent or ten of their auras, not even the weakest member of the crew there losing more than half.

Though it was close, the team succeeded. Penny's attack and Weiss' defense; somehow it was enough to keep everyone alive. Ruby runs over to Weiss, whose clothes are a bit covered in soot but otherwise fine.

"Weiss! Can you do that again?"

Ruby was hoping for a snappy remark from her partner. Something along the lines of "Who do you think I am?", a nonchalant dismissal of Ruby's worries. Instead Weiss takes some time to respond, panting as she regains her breathing. A second or two later she gives an answer:

"Once, maybe?" At the very least it's clear that Weiss does not want to test it out. Turning around Ruby can maybe see Argus as a dot in the distance. Still way too far, the leviathan will have destroyed this ship before it ever reaches shore.

Then, how can they stop the grimm? At least, how can they make sure that the grimm doesn't attack the ship anymore? Wait, doesn't attack… that, but…

Ruby has an idea. An idea she doesn't like. "We… we need a distraction." Though the words are somewhat mumbled, the crew listens to her as if their life depends on it Honestly, they probably do. Ruby starts to speak louder and louder, telling everyone of her plan: "Some people need to pester the leviathan, keep it busy while this ship enters Argus. It's… it's the only way."

Though the crew cheers, Dee comes up to ask who will serve as the bait. It's a good question, that Ruby solemnly answers: "The grimm barely noticed the attacks from those ballistae. We can only distract it with something even more powerful." Ruby sorrowfully looks at Weiss and Penny, who understand what she says.

"In other words, Penny's lasers and my glyph projectiles." Ruby nods at Weiss' answer, looking ashamedly at the ground. With a sigh Weiss accepts the task: "Then I'll make sure that this ship gets to Argus safely."

"B-But!" You're going up against a leviathan! There's no way to get you back! This is essentially a suicide mission! Ruby wants to say so many things to her partner to dissuade her, but Weiss shuts her up by putting a finger on her lips.

"I know how dangerous this is, Ruby. But danger is part of being a huntress. Don't you even dare insinuate I'm just a sheltered princess who needs to be protected. I'll be fine, Ruby."

Penny and Ciel each put a hand on Ruby's shoulders, assuring her that this is the right thing to do:

"Do not worry, my friend Ruby. I am made to combat these types of enemies."

"Sometimes we must make difficult decisions. Now, what's your order?"

Yeah, her team is right. Ruby wipes the tear that formed in her eye, her words loud and clear: "Penny! Weiss! Distract that grimm!"

The two girls nod, both to Ruby and each other. Penny wonders what their best plan of attack is: "I believe our best plan of attack is to fly around the grimm with my jetpack. The maneuverability should offset my inability to personally attack from that position."

Weiss agrees, but a dissenting voice comes from the railing of the ship.

"Nah, me maties, that ain't good." There on the railing stands captain Tick, acting once more as a pirate. "Ye need all the might ye can get 'gainst this beastie. Though I've got me but a mere cog down here, the Black Sparrow be swift enough to outrun Davy Jones himself!"

Team Scorpio sprints over to the captain, looking at what he's offering: A small hovercraft, adorned on both sides with a spray-painted image of a black sparrow. It can hold a crew of about six, meant to be used as a boarding vessel from the way it's attached to the Sternenstaub by a grappling hook.

It's a generous offer. So generous, in fact, that Weiss doesn't get why a white fang member would go so far, risking his life and his ship for mostly strangers. Tick is willing to explain:

"There's me buckos here helping out on this ship. I would rather be marooned than leave them to die!"

With those words Tick jumps off the railing, sliding from the rope to safely land on his ship. Weiss and Penny follow suit, the crew of three ready to take off.

"Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! We're off!"

Penny unravels the knot on the grappling hook and Tick starts up the motor. The Black Sparrow sails away to save the Sternenstaub, with half of team Scorpio on board. Ruby can only stay on the ship watching as two of her teammates fight for their lives… fight for everyone's lives. Weiss, Penny; It's all in your hands now.

…

Weiss isn't sure what to think of Ruby's orders. Her team, the crew of the Sternenstaub, there are dozens of lives that will be doomed if Weiss fails here. The fact that Ruby doesn't have any other options left makes this perhaps the heaviest burden that Weiss has carried in her entire life, even with the weight of her family name. Standing on the front of the ship the heiress goes over the dust she has left on her. Some ice, some fire, some lightning; It should suffice. It must suffice.

As the trio sail up to the monster it just dawns on them how insanely huge this grimm is. It's easily 300 feet tall, probably closer to 400. A single swing of its webbed hand is enough to break aura and worse. Any single mistake is fatal.

Weiss sighs once, before steeling herself with resolve. Her left hand is wielding Myrtenaster, and with quick flicks of the rapier she summons glyphs filled with various elemental attacks. A storm of ice, fire and lightning descends on the leviathan. From the back of the ship these attacks are supported by Penny's laser, her charged beams burning the flesh of the beast.

Of course, the attacks are barely more than mosquito bites to such a colossal being. However, the stings are annoying enough to warrant the beast's attention. Stopping its advance on the Sternenstaub the grimm now tries to sink the Black Sparrow. Thanks to the mobility of the small hovercraft the Leviathan cannot take down the nuisance, turning the fight into a stalemate… which is exactly what the trio wants.

The beast tries to swat the boat with its large arms, or kick it with its legs, but it's way too slow to hit the nimble hovercraft. Even the waves created by its movement aren't unconquerable for a sea dog like captain Tick, scourge of the seas. With grace the Black Sparrow bops over the waves, with only the biggest waves able to destabilize the heiress' footing. Tick manages to get his ship to sail circles around the grimm, preventing it from obtaining anything but a stalemate.

Of course, said grimm is aware of its failings. At this rate the leviathan won't be able to catch the big nor the small ship. Perhaps if it was still young and naïve it would keep up this attack pattern and hope for a lucky hit, but age has taught the value of changing tactics. Instead of continuing with the futile attempts it stands completely still, waiting for just the right moment.

The trio don't notice this lack of attacks, too focused on each of their jobs to keep the barrage going. When the Black Sparrow sails once more in front of the leviathan said beast shifts to offence, for a most devastating attack: This move covers a gargantuan area, with enough force to destroy ships several times the size of the hovercraft. The one technique that these humans can't dodge, the deadly belly-flop!

The leviathan comes down on the Black Sparrow, its crewmembers barely able to believe what is happening. Tick can only mutter out a single curse in surprise:

"Oh, sink me."

The leviathan is more than happy to incline. With a weight of several tons it comes crashing down on the Black Sparrow, sinking it immediately.

Weiss braced herself for her imminent demise, closing her eyes and awaiting death. Instead of feeling the weight of a Leviathan crushing her to death Weiss feels the wind brushing against her skin. What she sees upon opening her eyes in incredible: There she is, flying through the sky, carried by Penny and her jetpack.

"Greetings, Weiss! It is good to see you are using all senses again."

Weiss greets Penny back, but something is wrong. There's something missing: "Where's that white fang member?"

"Due to my positioning I was only able to save one person from the grimm. I prioritized you over captain Tick."

In other words… "He's dead."

"That is most likely correct." Penny brings it bluntly, causing Weiss to look surprised.

"He…" A white fang member, one of those scum, gave his life to save her? Her team? Everyone on a Schnee ship? "A faunus did that?"

"I was not aware that being a faunus prevents one from dying. I believe only our classmate Laura Wolff possesses such an ability."

Though Penny completely misses the point of what Weiss was trying to say, it doesn't bother the heiress who is lost in her own thoughts. "To think scum like him would act so noble, so human…"

"Weiss?" Penny snaps her friend wide awake, forcing her to make an important choice: "With Captain Tick dead, do we follow our original plan? I will leave the call in your hands, team leader."

This is a no-brainer for the prideful heiress: "Let's make his sacrifice count."

Weiss is burning through her dust to keep the beast's attention as Penny flies in circles around the grimm. From the few glimpses Weiss catches of the Sternenstaub she sees the ship getting further and further away from the monster. She continues her assault with a sigh of relief, making sure that the CR part of the team manages to safely reach the shore.

The plan works for a few minutes. Penny keeps the team mobile while Weiss launches the attack. It's a working combination, a stellar example of teamwork. However, there is one problem with the plan.

"I'm empty!" Weiss shouts, realizing the trouble she's in. No more dust? Then they cannot pester the leviathan anymore. And without being any threat to the grimm, well, what stops it from going after the larger target?

"Then I believe we cannot fulfill our duty any further. Shall we retreat?"

Weiss looks at the leviathan, and back at the ship. No, the Sternenstaub will probably not make it to Argus in time. "The ship won't make it! We've got to keep going!"

"Then how do you keep attacking without dust?"

Then it hit Weiss like an epiphany: "Simple. I don't." Weiss makes Penny let go of her hand. Landing on one of her glyphs mid-air, she urges her teammate to follow.

It takes Penny only a moment to process Weiss' actions before realizing what her team leader is planning. Instead of a jetpack Floating Array tuns into its gun form, where four groups of three swords turn into laser cannons amping up with power. One by one the cannons fire their blasts, staggering the beast with each hit and searing off flesh. The blasts come one after the other, each shot helping to give the other three cannons their needed cooldown and reloading times.

The leviathan tries to smack the humans out of the air, but even without the power of flight they're nimble enough that the attacks can be dodged. Even horizontal swipes don't do much more than in- or decrease the altitude of the two huntresses. At this rate the SP part of Scorpio can hold off the leviathan forever, which the grimm realizes.

Instead of making a futile attempt to smack the puny humans out of the air the grimm tries its hands at a new approach. The gills on its neck glow bright orange once more, blazing energy gathering in its mouth that cackles with power.

Okay, yeah, that's bad. Sure, the SP duo did manage to barely block it once, earlier, but at this distance that attack will be fatal if they try that again. A beam equaling destruction flies downward at the two huntresses, whose escape was too close for comfort. With only the sheer heat being enough to take out fifteen percent of their aura it's a good thing the beam only hit water.

Weiss and Penny land on a newly conjured glyph, trying to find their bearing from the sudden dodge. As Penny gets ready to launch a new attack both members of Scorpio notice that the surrounding is suddenly going foggy. Strange, there weren't any clouds this low, and the prickly hot sensation from this mist, could this be?

"A field of steam?"

Penny came up with the same idea. Water heated by flames, in such massive quantities… this must be the side effect of the leviathan's breath attack. The sea water got vaporized and is now turning into mist. Talk about being unlucky, this prevents the duo from attacking…

…or dodging.

"Penny, we need to move!" Weiss can finish those words in time as a black blur comes at them from behind Penny. The redhead gets hit full-on, while Weiss only has enough time to block with Myrtenaster. Even with that if feels as if she got hit by a train at full speed. The hit took almost all her aura, now dangling at a few percent. If that's what happened to Weiss, then in what shape is Penny in?

The duo flew a few dozen yards away, more if it were not for a large black glyph holding the two in place. As they stop moving Weiss summons a normal glyph underneath them, allowing Weiss the get up and inspect her friend:

Penny took a straight hit from a leviathan, so Weiss is happy enough that Penny is at least having a few spasms that prove she's not dead yet. It appears that Penny's backpack managed to take the brunt of the blow. Several swords have snapped as well as a few cables, leaving only half of Penny's swords in functional state. The same goes for Weiss' Myrtenaster, having broken off at the ricasso and the blade now catching rust on the bottom of the Argesian sea. Still, a broken weapon is way less important than the safety of a teammate. "Penny! Are you okay?"

"Error. I am not combat ready."

And Penny proves to be delirious. Yep, any ideas of combat can be scrapped. Weiss takes her teammate on the shoulder, planning on running away. Perhaps with some luck her aura will hold out until they reach Atlas.

Weiss realizes that that also needs to be scrapped upon trying to lift Penny. Even though aura amplifies physical capabilities Weiss can barely lift her teammate, let alone run away with her. What is Penny made of? Metal?

A grumbling noise like lightning makes Weiss turn around, where she sees a triumphant leviathan ready to dunk the two girls straight into their graves. A giant hand comes crashing down in an overhead swing. The move is too telegraphed, slow enough that even the underperforming students at Atlas would be able to dodge it under normal circumstances. But with Penny like this? The duo can't escape, and the grimm is trying to relish in the girl's terror for as long as it can.

Weiss weighs her options. She could try to release her glyph and fall out of the Leviathan's range. The only problem with that is that falling upon a new glyph will do enough damage to break Weiss' aura, destroying the new glyph immediately and dropping both Scorpios in the water. With Penny's current condition she would certainly drown.

Another option is to ditch Penny and run. Penny won't make it, but Weiss just might-no! She refuses to even think of abandoning her teammates. She would rather die than allow the Schnee name to be further tarnished!

She should… what should she do? Myrtenaster is broken. Her aura is almost down. Her enemy is unbeatable. Is… is this the end? Is there nothing Weiss can do but silently await inevitability.

…

No.

No!

It can't be accepted. There may be a day when Weiss will fall, but it won't be today. Not so long as she has a team who rely on her and would cry if she died. For Ciel; For Penny; For Ruby! For the sake of their happiness, Weiss cannot die here! Even if it's a million-to-one chance, she will grasp it! She will not let her team down!

"Yaaaaah!"

One final shout of power, and the world flashes white.

…

…

"▅▅▄▄▃▃▂▂"

The beast roars, but this time in pain. As the brightness clears Weiss can see the cause of the roar: The leviathan quickly pulls its hand back, the palm bleeding with murky black blood. The cause of the wound comes out of a glyph way more intricate than any ordinary glyph:

A sword.

To be more precise, the blade of a sword. One almost twice as tall as the huntress herself, and about a yard wide. The blade is pure white, only marred by the black ichor that was left by the leviathan's hand. Weiss recognizes it, the weapon of the Arma Gigas that stood in the way of her huntress career.

The final secret of the Schnee family semblance… did Weiss finally unlock it?

Before Weiss can ponder further the sword shatters and crumbles into nothingness, and she can feel her mind growing foggy. Eyelids are starting to feel heavy, and it's getting hard to stay awake. Just like before the world fades out, but this time the colors turn to darkness.

Dang… is this… it…?

…

Ruby has been watching her teammates through the scope of her beloved sniper-scythe. With only a 4x scope she is unable to clearly follow the battle she manages to see the Black Sparrow get destroyed, the flames of the leviathan causing a fog field and something bright causing the leviathan to stagger. The latter is good news, but Ruby isn't all too sure that such a miracle can occur twice. As it stands now those two are walking corpses.

"Ciel! We've got to do something! Anything!" To save their partners, there must be a possibility they can create. They cannot stand here and do nothing as half their team gets killed!

While Ruby is panicking Ciel has averted her eyes from the leviathan. Instead she looks at Argus and taps Ruby's shoulder so she can the same.

Ruby does as Ciel tells her to, looking at Argus. From there something is approaching the grimm and approaching fast. A bullhead would make sense, but this thing seems to be going through the water from al the splashes it's making. A large boat perhaps? Ruby gazes through her scope to see just what that is, and is surprised by what she observes:

"Is that a giant robot?" A brown bipedal metal man, with no head but an arm cannon in place of a right hand. Though Ruby cannot tell the size accurately it's obviously gigantic if it's able to run through the deep ocean waters.

The machine raises its cannon, shooting out large blasts of dust-propelled energy bullets at the Leviathan. The grimm, still focused on the humans in the air is taken by surprise as the explosions impact with its skin. Letting out a painful cry the grimm turns around, survival instinct kicking in over killing the two petty humans in front of it. The metal colossus now has its full attention.

Flames gather within the beast's mouth once more, as it shoots a blast of electrified fire at the mech. With Argus behind it the mech should not be able to dodge, is not allowed to dodge.

Therefore, the mech does not bother to dodge. Instead it continues to sprint at the beast, its arm cannon raised and glowing with a whitish color. Only when the flames are just about to hit the mech does it fire its own blast in return, a massive amount of earth dust that transmutes into a gigantic rock.

Flames heat up the earth within the mech's projectile, dispersing as they strike against sold rock. The heat liquifies the earth and turns it into plasma, as the rock projectile turning from just solid stone into a flaming meteor.

The grimm's offense quickly shifts into defense upon learning that his flames only make the enemy's attacks stronger. It tries to dodge the flaming wrath of the approaching meteor, but due to its lumbering body is only able to do so partially.

A ton of molten rock slams into the left side of the grimm, taking a chunk out of the upper left half of its body and obliterating its entire arm. The beast lets out a roar of pain, crying in anguish.

That damn human piece of junk! Unbelievable as it sounds, the leviathan realizes that for the first time in its life it met its match. Since that robot can't be beaten right now, the best option is to retreat. He who runs away lives to kills humans another day!

The beast turns around, trying to swim away towards its undersea lair. The robot doesn't seem fazed, its pilot too experienced with this kind of creature to not have seen them try to bail. Ever since the first leviathan that tried to escape the Colossus it has been upgraded with a few extras to keep that from happening ever again:

Two large protrusions on the mech's shoulders open, from each a barrel protruding that fires a large spear at the leviathan. The beast isn't focused on dodging, unable to prevent these weapons from piercing through its belly. As the spears pierce completely through the body they unfold, turning into large hooks that dig in the flesh of the grimm. The beast struggles, trying to escape, but the mech has too strong a grip on the beast. Little by little the grimm is reeled in, and upon realizing that escape is hopeless it decides to go out fighting.

Upon entering melee range the leviathan swings it remaining arm at the mech, whose haymaker is blocked by the cannon arm. With the grimm lacking anything to defend itself with the Colossus readies its right fist for a punch. As the punch flies to the grimm the hand turns into a drill, whirring with the pride of Atlas. Said whirring quickly turns into splattering as it connects with the neck of the grimm, piercing through grimm flesh like butter. Only when the tip protrudes from the other side does the drilling stop.

The leviathan turns limp, only standing upright because the mech has its drill puncturing through the grimm's neck. The orange-red eyes give one last spark of life before they dim for all eternity. The gargantuan body of the grimm turns to ash, disintegrating before scattering through the wind.

With the leviathan vanquished the Sternenstaub is free to enter the port of Argus. As Ciel and Ruby depart from the ship two Atlesian soldiers are standing there, offering to guide the remaining members of SCRP to the Atlesian headquarters for debriefing and regrouping with the rest of their team. They don't need to hear that twice, following the soldiers as they lead the way. After a short stroll through the pier of Argus and over the Grey Gate Bridge they arrive at the gates of the military base, which opens for the Atlas students.

The pair enter the Atlesian military base, which is somewhat messy from the sudden response: Wooden crates, stretches of rope, a misplaced sea container, it's a far cry from Atlas' clean and sterile look.

Ruby and Ciel quickly find the other half of their team resting on the first-floor balcony of the command center. The two quickly maneuver through the building and arrive with their teammates.

"Weiss! Penny!" Ruby shouts out, ecstatic that her teammates are fine. The team leader rolls her eyes, slightly annoyed by her partner's noisiness but glad to see her friends again.

"I told you I would be fine." Weiss takes a sip from her coffee, calming her partner's excitedness as she keeps explaining her promise: "Though, I am glad that a pair of mantas followed the colossus. It's only thanks to those that I'm sitting here instead of at the bottom of the ocean."

…ouch. That hurts Ruby right in the soul. If she had known that Weiss came this close to dying, would she still have made the order?

Ruby's teammates see how pained their friend's expressions is, and make sure to assuage Ruby's worries:

"You made the right choice." Ciel points out, "If we did nothing, our chance of survival would have been… nil."

Weiss agrees with her teammate. "If you didn't come up with that plan we would probably all be at the bottom of the ocean, Ruby. Seriously, how are you able to come up with good plans yet have no confidence in them?"

Ruby chuckles at that accusation, agreeing with Weiss' complaint. Penny too smiles, having her own set of words to make Ruby happy.

"Friend Ruby, you have made the optimal plan. I cannot compute a possibility in which there was less than one death from the leviathan's offense."

Penny tried to calm Ruby's worries, but they had the opposite effect. Ruby looks around, indeed missing someone from the trio they send out. This one death, is it him? "You mean, captain Tick is…?'

"Yes… captain Tick." At this Weiss look saddened. "He… he went down together with his ship. He gave his life for others. He was a credit to his ra-"

"Who the hell are you calling dead!" Entering the balcony is a familiar face. Though he's covered in warm blankets and shivering like it's freezing outside, he's most certainly still amongst the living.

The girls are quite surprised, especially Weiss who thought she saw the guy die: "How are you still alive?!"

"One of these mantas-achoo! As I said, one of those mantas saw me and fished me out of the waters. Took them a while though, now I'-achoo! Ugh, I feel horrible…"

It looks like someone just caught a cold, though Ruby is glad that he's not dead yet. Tick agrees with Ruby, giving her a smile and speaking once more in his piratic speech: "Aye. 'tis not me time to go to Davy Jones' locker, and me buckos still need me. Can't let them down, savvy?"

"About that…" Approaching the group of five is a short, elderly woman wearing the Atlas military uniform surrounded by two muscular soldiers. With an arrogant look she turns towards the faunus captain, pointing out the history of the fang member: "Tick J. Roger, member of the White Fang. Wanted for multiple incidents of robbery, terrorism and damaging Atlesian property. Of course, we didn't include anything about your actions of today."

Tick doesn't deny it, only claiming that he should be charged with piracy instead of terrorism, which are two completely different things in his opinion. The officer gives the faunus a wary eye, before continuing with speaking:

"I am Caroline Cordovin, head officer of the Atlesian military's Argus division. It is my responsibility that no scum dares to besmirch the glorious name of Atlas." Though she's the shortest person in the room the sheer aura she gives off makes everyone feel like they're looked down upon from far above. "Your crew has been pardoned of their crimes because they were willing to help out against the leviathan. However, I won't be lenient to the one who set them up to this attempted thievery and piracy. Rest assured that Atlas does have a plan for the likes of you."

What did Cordovin mean with that? Tick doesn't understand completely, so he tries to use his surroundings to come up with some clue as to what this military granny wants:

A raised wooden platform in the middle of the base; A long piece of rope, seemingly scattered as if it's to be used soon; A long pole dislodged from its standard resting place. It's a trio of abnormal items that would not have much of a connection to the average watcher, but a pirate fan like him can make clear conclusions from that: "Aargh! Ye bilge-sucking wench! There be no hempen halter's round this pirate. I'll pass this dance with Jack Ketch!"

The five women look rather surprised, understanding that Tick is both terrified and angry, but without a clue to what his words mean. The captain jumps off the balcony using this moment of weakness, heading straight for the gates of the base. Cordovin realizes the captain's plans as well. After an angry shout into her comms device the alarm is raised: All exits to the base close off immediately and angry personnel streams out of every corner like they were rats on a sinking ship.

With a sigh Tick turns around, setting his sights on other escape possibilities. If one door's closed, there's always a window to escape from… well, figuratively speaking. This base is surrounded by walls and a literal cliff, making such escape options hard.

Two broad-shouldered Atlesian soldiers come running at the pirate, unarmed but probably very strong given how muscled they look. It is Tick's hope that they've also got muscles for brains. Tick grabs a pile of hemp robe hanging on a nearby wall. After making a simple noose on one end of the rope he throws his makeshift weapon like a lasso. The soldiers manage to dodge, the noose at the end caught on a nearby pole. Seeing that Tick got his weapon stuck the soldiers perform a bull charge at the unfortunate captain, grinning as they realize they might just get a promotion for capturing an important criminal.

Instead of feeling unlucky Tick grins, as everything is going according to plan. The pole was exactly what he was planning for, as now he can use the rope to its full ability! Jumping off to the side Tick gets the soldiers between himself and the pole, with the rope hanging as an obstacle in the middle. The two Atlesians try to decelerate upon realizing Tick's plan, but they can't stop themselves from tripping over the rope and falling face-first into the ground.

That's two soldiers dealt with, but the Atlas military has enough goons left that he can't keep this up forever. More soldiers are starting to surround the faunus, who sees another piece of equipment that he can use:

The dislodged pole of about tweny feet long, the one that according to Tick would be used to hang him, will now be used as his tool to freedom. With a heave Tick lifts the pole in the air, running with it to the corners of the base. Military personnel are coming after him as well as blocking the way in front of him. Well, that's to be expected. They're probably pulling all the stops for the apprehension of Anima's greatest pirate.

As Tick approaches the guard, he counts the number of steps between himself and the wall. Just before the guard grabs him Tick plants the pole into the ground, translating the running energy into vertical height by the way of a pole-vault. The soldiers can only watch as Tick barely manages to land on the wall walk.

With a groan Tick stands up, but quickly finds that the soldiers can use stairs to get up the walls as well. Within moments Atlesian military goons surround Tick from both sides of the wall. "Stop right there, captain Tick!" With enemies to his left and right, a drop of twenty feet on one side a jump twice that height into cold sea water on the other it seems to be over for the daring faunus. But instead of surrendering he gives one last boast to his enemies:

"This be the day ye will always remember as the day ye almost caught captain Tick!" With those words the pirate jumps over the railing into the cold water below.

Though they didn't try to catch the pirate Scorpio is worried for the pirate who just jumped off a wall. The team runs up to the railing where the faunus jumped off, trying to see what just happened to their enemy turned sort-of ally. Upon looking down they see that he made the jump into the cold waters below, where Pearl was waiting for him with a speedboat of her own. After climbing in the boat Tick takes a final glance at the railing where team Scorpio is watching him from, and waves at them with his pirate hat. Ruby and Penny enthusiastically wave back, and even the other two members give a small wave to the escaped pirate.

As the members of the White Fang sail into the sunset Cordovin joins team Scorpio at the railing, having walked with a calm pace. Upon seeing the boat in the distance Cordovin can't help but snark. "You know, I was going to offer him a full pardon for past crimes, two hundred kilos of dust and a job as an aquatic combat specialist for our military. But I suppose that some people will always stay criminal scum."

Most of team Scorpio rolls their eyes at that. They have seen first-hand what Tick has done for the Sternenstaub and based on those actions Cordovin shouldn't judge him that quickly. The older woman lets out one more sigh before forgetting about the pirate, walking back to the base together with the team. Upon reaching the lounge of the base they each take a seat, Cordovin ready to begin her review. The first thing Scorpio notices is that the old woman is sounding way peppier than before:

"Ah, yes, team Scorpio. I was relieved to hear that Mister Schnee would send his own daughter's team to protect the Sternenstaub. Having seen how skillfully Atlas' future dealt with an offense of both the White Fang and a Leviathan calms my old heart."

Ruby starts to smile, realizing that this is probably a good sign. Caroline continues her speech about how amazing SCRP is: "Of course, I expected nothing less from Atlas next star team: The heiress to the SDC; The only daughter of the esteemed Soleil nobility; The child of one of Atlas' greatest scientists. And… well…"

Cordovin looks somewhat less peppy, even giving a bit of a frown. Weiss notices, and gives an equally angry look back at Caroline, as well as a small threat:

"Ruby Rose is a valuable member of team Scorpio as well as a good friend. I won't let you insult her just because she isn't Atlesian."

"O-Of course," Cordovin says shakenly, "I did not mean to disrespect miss Rose. After all, why would I not praise someone who realizes that Altesian schooling is the greatest in the world!"

Cordovin is back to her usual patriotic self, as she continues her speech:

"Even if miss Rose is not Atlesian, it is still a perfect team. No criminals, no faunus, no horrendous women who smack on cashews while making horrible puns… but I digress." Clearing her throat once with a cough, Cordovin goes over their performance:

The Sternenstaub has been saved, they did not lose any cargo to either Fang or grimm, and though they did need rescue from the Leviathan they managed to stall for long enough to let the military take care of the rest. "In other words, you pass with flying colors! A+! Top shelf! Perfect!"

The team are cheerful upon hearing the news, especially since Weiss can really use a good grade to get up her SERE. Cordovin sees the happy smiles on the team, and the warmth they give of creates one of her own. With the grading done Cordovin explains what the team will do next:

"Now, there are four beds in the guest chambers that have your names on it. I recommend that you girls get a good night's rest. Though it isn't the city of Atlas Argus has enough pleasantries that you will need an entire day for it." Cordovin stands up, walking out of the lounge. "Now, enjoy yourselves!"

Team Scorpio takes the advice, resting up from the hectic day. The rest of the day they spend uneventfully before going to bed.

After a good night's sleep team Scorpio is ready to discover Argus. Even though it's not one of the four metropoles it's still large enough to have its own touristic sights. Fisherman's Wharf, Atlas Gate Park, Mistraltown, the Palace of Fine Arts (much to Ruby's chagrin), the de Young museum of huntsman weaponry (much to Weiss' chagrin) and the twin peaks at the sides of Argus. Thanks to the cable cars they didn't even have to walk from one attraction to the other!

It's undeniable that it made for a good holiday trip. However, in the humble opinion of a Rose it can't be a complete trip. There's one key ingredient missing, one that can only be covered by a building that Ruby's pointing to:

A souvenir shop! What's a good trip without memorabilia for your friends? Though Weiss doesn't understand why people would be interested in such overpriced trash she has no reason to deny Ruby her fun. They already went to that weapon museum; this can't be any worse.

The store is clearly one of the biggest souvenir shops in town, large enough to require a second floor to display its goodies. This should help Ruby find the perfect gifts for both her sister and her sister team!

Ruby immediately splits from the group, using her speed to quickly look for what she can give to her friends. Within thirty seconds she finds gifts for the RL part of Regal: a red hoodie with the Argus symbol, as well as a pencil holder shaped like a badger holding a honeypot. Two gifts down, three to go!

As Ruby continues to search through the store she eventually meets up with her partner, who's standing alone in a corner inspecting some wares.

"Hey Weiss!" Of course, who would Ruby be if she wasn't interested in her friend's business. Who knows, maybe Weiss found another souvenir for one of her friends. "What'cha got there?"

"Oh… Ruby." Weiss looks up from what she's holding, only making a half-hearted attempt to hide what's in her hands. With a single step Ruby has a clear view of the thing Weiss was inspecting:

Weiss is holding a plush doll of some red-headed huntress. She's wearing armor in the style of the city, though the overall design is rather… uncanny. Looking at the shelves Ruby quickly finds the name of what her friend's holding:

"Pyrrha Nikos: The Great One." Huh. Weird, why would Weiss be interested in tha-wait… "Isn't that-"

"Yes, the person I wanted to team up with if I went to Beacon." Weiss interrupts, looking somewhat guilty about admitting the wishes of her past self. Ruby doesn't notice, instead focusing on the dolls:

"I can understand why you would want to team up with her, she's got her own action figure!" Though it's either sloppily made, or Pyrrha is a deformed monstrosity. Clearly someone needed to do a better job at the action figure factory.

"That's not the point!" Weiss almost shouts out. With a huff the heiress calms herself, telling Ruby to focus and stay quiet. "Pyrrha might be the strongest huntress of this generation, and sometimes I can't help but wonder what kind of talented mastermind managed to win her partnership. But… I think I was wrong for preferring her over you."

"Aww, Weiss!" Ruby happily hugs her partner, accepting the apology.

"Let me finish, you dunce!"

"Aww, Weiss…"

"As I was saying, Pyrrha is strong, probably stronger than you. But people like her who stand at the top are all the same: Arrogant, overconfident, a know-it-all who constantly irritates others." This isn't the best time for Ruby to tell her friend that she's basically describing herself on her worst days. "She might be strong, but I wouldn't have survived that battle with the leviathan if she were my partner."

Eh? Ruby doesn't understand that one. Both Ruby and Pyrrha would just stand on the Sternenstaub and watch the battle from afar. Weiss needs to clarify this point, which she does:

"Ruby, do you know the full extent of what my semblance can do?"

Ruby goes over all the things she remembered Weiss doing. Glyphs to stand on, glyphs to attract, glyphs to summon ice, fire, lightning or whatever other type of dust the heiress has on hand… It's quite a lot in Ruby's opinion, but it's not all according to Weiss.

"The final part of the Schnee semblance is summoning." To demonstrate she puts her hands together, forming an intricate glyph over them. Straining herself to her limit Weiss makes the tip of a sword appear. It's only a few inches tall, but Ruby recognizes it for what it is:

"Aww, look at your stubby little sword. It's adorable!"

Weiss can feel herself tiring from this small summon, so she dismisses the circle. After taking a deep breath she explains what makes Ruby so much better than this Pyrrha: "I've tried several years now to summon anything, but I never succeeded, not even once. Until yesterday. I succeeded not because I didn't want to die, but because I didn't want to see my friends sad."

Weiss lets out a small chuckle, realizing how corny her story is becoming. "It's ironic, right? All these years of trying to succeed for my own pride, only to succeed when I do so for others. For my friends. For you."

Ruby is charmed, unable to believe Weiss just said that. "So… are you trying to say that friendship is magic?"

Weiss lets out a snort at that, well, ridiculous summary of her story. "Magic isn't real, you dunce."

"B-But…"

"But, I'll agree that friendship might be an important factor of the final step of my semblance." Weiss put the doll back and gives a warm smile to her partner. "Thanks, Ruby. Thank you for being my friend."

Ruby hugs her friend in response, happy to hear such words from her best friend. "Of course, Weiss! We're besties better than the resties, why wouldn't we do anything for one another?"

Weiss looks slightly annoyed at Ruby's hyperactivity, as well as some of her childish antics. The heiress pushes Ruby off her, the red reaper falling butt-first on the floor. "Yeah, I'm not calling us that."

"Aww…" Ruby starts to sulk, sometimes quite unsure where to stand on Weiss. Sometimes she's nice, other times she's ice. Why are some people so difficult?

Weiss, seeing how she pushed Ruby away, does feel slightly bad about it. "Then again… perhaps that one fighting game you play with the rest of the team, that… Unist-"

"UDOST."

"That, yes. Perhaps you could teach me, so we could… play it together?"

The words came out more like a plea than a question, but Ruby accepts. Taking out her scroll she begins to open the app, ready to explain the basics o-

"Not now, you dunce!" Weiss shouts out. As she realizes the intonation of her scolding Weiss quickly takes a quieter tone, explaining herself further. "We're still in Argus, we should enjoy the city while it lasts. But… the flight back to Atlas is long, and with our homework done I suppose I don't have anything else to do."

Ruby smiles at Weiss and gets one in return. Though it isn't spoken both sides can feel that their bond has deepened. Their friendship will form a power that will create a lasting impact on the world!

* * *

"Roman Torchwick?"

Roman looks to the new entrants, tipping his hat politely. "Ladies. It seems my reputation precedes me." After the short greeting he returns to the old man to get what he so rightfully deserves: "So, one Orange Splash Sorbet for me with cranberries as topping, and a Neopolitan… hm, don't see the flavor. Neo, is there something else you want?"

Yang meanwhile looks at the absurdity of the situation: Standing there in front of her is Vale's most nefarious criminal, the boogeyman of the police, Roman Torchwick. Now that sounds like a target to take down! Yang drops her shopping bags on the ground, Ember Celica unfolding over her wrists and hands into their full glory. Locked and loaded, she's ready to capture the dangerous criminal in front of her!

…were it not for all three of her teammates restraining her. Yang looks perplexed, unable to understand what her team is doing. "What are you doing? Roman Torchwick, criminal, a bad guy? Someone huntresses need to stop?"

"Yang, he's ordering a Fro'Go. That's hardly criminal activity." Blake tries to be a voice of reason, but Yang disagrees. He's a bad guy, they're good guys, and good guys catch bad guys. Simple as that.

"And can we catch him?" Vernal asks with snark, "This man can evade professional huntsmen, so why would we fare any better?"

"Well…" Yang tries to think of some answer but fails to come up with something. Instead it is Torchwick who wants to put the finishing nail in the coffin:

"Listen to your friends, blondie. They seem to be a lot smarter than you are."

Okay, that's it! Yang doesn't have the best temper to begin with, but to be mocked by criminal scum is a definite no go! Roman Torchwick has gone too far!

If the rest of Vibrant doesn't let their leader fight, then perhaps she should get some form of victory in a different way. Her eyes may be blazing red, but this time she's gearing for another way to make Roman suffer:

Taking out her scroll Yang proceeds to activate the camera function, making sure to get a good video from the master thief to upload on the web. Thanks to free wi-fi hotspot 'InfiniteShootGlove1' the megabytes won't even come out of her own bundle!

While Roman is rather confused why Yang suddenly went from trying to arrest him to filming him the thief's narcissism prevents him from questioning it. "Well then, Blondie, make sure you catch my good side, okay?"

"Oh, I will." Yang grins way too much for someone who's being taunted, that being enough to tip Roman that something is wrong. "I'll make sure that your pretty face will be shown all over the net. I will get every huntsman here in Vale to catch your good side, Torchwick."

The thief snorts at the idea, the stupidity of Yang's plan. "Now, I don't want to be stereotypical, but if you think that they're going to be in time to stop me then you really are a dumb blonde."

"Maybe. Maybe not. There's a pretty good chance we can stall for long enough until other huntsmen arrive. The situation might go out of your control." Really, Yang doesn't know the odds, but they shouldn't be too bad. "Now, if you were to apologize for the insults and compensate by buying us a Fro'Go each I might agree with Blake that you're not doing anything evil here."

Torchwick blinks twice, having a hard time processing what he just heard. "Blondie, are you… blackmailing me?" The thief doesn't get an answer, though Yang's smirk is enough to tell what's happening. Roman Torchwick is being blackmailed by a student. With a small smirk the thief blinks a mock tear out of his eyes, acting like he's touched by this evil act. "Kids these days, they grow up so fast."

Yang rolls her eyes at Torchwick's jabs, while Blake and Ilia are quite surprised at their leader's behavior. Especially the latter has a word about these actions: "Are we really so petty to con a thief out of some frozen treats?"

Is this petty? Yeah, in Yang's opinion it is. But petty victories are victories nonetheless. Besides, there might be free Fro'Go involved if this goes as planned. Vernal is also on board with this plan, impatiently waiting for the thief to give his answer:

"Well, Torchwick? What's it going to be?"

In all honesty, Roman wouldn't mind paying for the girl's frozen yogurts. Spending a few lien to propagate lawbreaking is a positive in his book, especially if it's happening to future huntsmen. Spreading seeds of corruption amongst the only class of people who can hinder him will be great for future business. The only problem with that is that if Roman buys the girls their frozen treats it will be a mental defeat for Roman. Losing to a bunch of academy brats is disastrous for a master thief's reputation. That's why Roman has a different solution in mind:

"How about I make a counterproposal: Neo, if you would?"

The girl, who Yang assumes to be Neo, walks up to Yang, consistently smirking as she looks the team leader in the eyes. Yang does the same in return, staring back at the young girl-no, midget, if that cleavage is any indication-wondering what she is about to do. Neo tilts her head, her smirk growing slightly as she stands around like a predator waiting to make the first move.

Yang keeps up her gaze but relents a single blink. The single moment in time she loses before reopening her eyes causes her to lose track of Neo. Instead she feels something swirling around her shoulders and head. Before being able to make sense of what is happening two heeled feet slam into her back, sending her flying through the shop's window. Glass shatters as Yang rolls and stumbles through the street, one car only barely able to avoid ramming into the huntress.

Dizzily Yang looks up, seeing that a fight just broke out between the rest of her team and those two asshole villains. With a good stretch Yang gets up, sprinting back into the shop. It seems that the final team bonding of this day will some good old villain clobbering!

With Neo having made the first move Vibrant is forced into battle. The other three charge at the two criminals, with Neo getting first pick. A sweeping strike by Vernal gets softly pushed out of the way, allowing Neo to graze the attack and leave the short-haired girl for the thief. No, Neo will take the two long-haired girls, they look to be slightly more fun.

Vernal throws Sun Xiang at Torchwick, who parries the projectile and sends it right back. Catching her own weapon Vernal proceeds to rain down a hail of bullets from the gun part of her weapons.

Instead of dodging Torchwick rapidly spins his Melodic Cudgel, the bullets deflected and bouncing off harmlessly. When the two of them meet at melee range the thief swings down his cane, ready to bash in some academy skulls. It doesn't surprise Torchwick that the hit gets blocked, but what is problematic is that the wind and fire wheels of Vernal caught his weapon and prevent Torchwick from easily pulling it back. The only thing going in favor of Torchwick is that shorthair here has her weapons tangled as well, preventing either from attacking the other.

A quick glance tells Torchwick that he's got more to worry about. Blondie is coming back, ready to strike with a vengeance.

Tsk, pesky girls. No other choice, it's time to ditch Melodic Cudgel. Roman lets go of his weapon and takes a few steps back, his left hand reaching inside of his jacket. He's just in time, as the place he just stood is now punched to hell by the angry blonde.

Seeing that she failed to hit the thief Yang goes into pursuit, who has by now backpedaled through the broken window. Yang jumps back out too, the street the new playground for the duo.

"Well now, blondie, aren't you huntresses supposed to be noble protectors? You aren't going to punch an unarmed man, are you?"

Yang doesn't even flinch at the thought. Sure, under normal circumstances Yang wouldn't attack, but against a thief who sent out his minion to perform a surprise attack? Torchwick is not getting any mercy!

With a lunge Yang launches a straight punch boosted by a blast from Ember Celica. It should be enough to deal heavy damage without sending the thief flying.

The fist connects, but not with Roman's body. Instead the thief blocked with his left hand, now covered in some sort of weird metal glove. The palm of the glove is glowing white and creates some form of repulsive force that prevents Yang from pushing her fist any farther.

Now Yang looks surprised, realizing that that cane wasn't his only weapon. A hook from her other hand and a high kick follow, but the glove is just as adept at stopping those blows as well.

Tsk. If power doesn't get through, then let's show him the advantage of having two armored hands! A rapid-fire fisticuff barrage is thrown out, an exchange of punches that looks more fitting to be used by an overly muscular manly man rather than Yang. Power is exchanged for speed, as Yang tries to get a few hits in against an opponent who only has one hand to block.

Yang on the other hand underestimated Torchwick's turtling abilities. With some effort he manages to parry every single strike, keeping up his defense until they both hear the clicking sound of an empty magazine.

Yang's out of shotgun shells, a problem that proves very useful for the thief. With his opponent's sudden drop in power the offense shifts in Torchwick's favor! With a single open palm strike he strikes Yang in the stomach, sending her flying for a dozen yards before crashing into a wall.

Torchwick quirks an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting that result. With a disappointing look he checks out the display attached to the bottom of the glove, which has the words "Repulsor mode" written on it.

"Repulsor mode? Who creates an infinite shoot glove and makes that the default mode?" Slightly irritated Torchwick presses some buttons at random. Each button changes the mode of the infinite shoot glove, as the thief cycles through them to find an effective weapon:

Light mode? That belongs on the dancefloor, not on the battlefield. Gun mode? Eh, too basic. Stun ray mode? Like that's going to do a lot of good against aura-using huntresses. Laser mode? Hmm… yeah, that sounds good in Torchwick's ears.

And just as luck would have it for him, here comes challenger number two! Lasers meet gunfire, causing explosions where the two of them meet in mid-air. Vernal jumps up in the air, throwing her weapons at the thief. Two lasers knock the weapons off course, but they somehow manage to fly back to their wielder as if by magic. Wind and fire wheels clash with mechanical gauntlet, before Torchwick uses the lasers to force Vernal two steps back.

A quick glance to the side tells the thief that Blondie's out of the rubble, once more heading straight for Torchwick. Two huntresses against poor ol' Roman? Well, he can use the exercise!

Meanwhile Blake and Ilia try to get a grip on Neo, who manages to slip between all their attacks. With their weapons they can play with the range of attack, allowing for a few tricks to keep Neo at bay. Each time Blake gets in close with her sword Ilia supports from further away with Lightning Lash's whip form, while Ilia's stabs from rapier form get supported by Gambol Shroud's chain scythe. Though they don't land any hits they do keep Neo on the defensive, each strike only barely missing the shorter girl.

In one such combo Blake takes the close-ranged offensive once more, jumping in with an overhead slash as Ilia retreats. The overhead gets parried by the parasol, whose tip is now headed straight for Blake's stomach. The strike connects, but before Blake's body collapses in pain it disappears entirely. Looking up Neo sees a heeled foot coming straight for her head, but quickly stepping to the side prevents her from getting hit.

As Blake lands Neo sees the chance for a counterattack. Two wide sweeps from her parasol knock the black beauty out of balance, before a quick jab to the stomach should make her hurt.

The strike connects, but not as hard as Neo hoped. Part of her was forced to hold back, as the end of Ilia's whip is coiled around Neo's wrist. Considering the yellow glow of lightning dust coming off the weapon means that Neo will meet a shocking defeat if she does nothing!

As Neo is focused on Ilia's weapon Blake sees a chance to get a hit in. A quick jab of Gambol Shroud's pommel lets her get the first good hit on the short girl.

Though she should feel rather ashamed to be taking a hit from first-year students Neo is instead grinning, uncaring of the damage she took. She vaults over the black-haired girl using the momentum of Blake's attack, her caught hand grabbing tight onto Blake's shoulder.

Ilia's electricity strikes Neo as she's pivoting in the air, the thunder coursing through her hand. Neo bites her lip from the sudden pain, but the true cries come from someone else.

Blake lets out a shout of anguish as she falls on the ground, her body spasming and twitching. Electricity always seeks the path of least resistance, and due to Neo being aerial that path was from where she touched Blake's shoulder to the ground, sending heavy doses of voltage through the huntress-in-training's body.

"Blake!" Ilia shouts in worry, fearing for her friend after that accidental friendly fire. Worry turns to anger as Neo kicks Blake in the stomach, causing the faunus to drop Gambol Shroud as she doubles in pain.

An angered Ilia pulls the trigger again, hoping that a second attack will take down the opponent. Before the lightning crystals can be activated Neo pulls on the whip, dragging Ilia with her. Ilia is forced to step forward towards Neo, who jumps at the chameleon in return. Two girls meet each other in the air, neither of them able to use their weapons in this close space. It comes as no surprise that the one more skilled in hand-to-hand combat manages to land the blow. Ilia is sent flying, losing her grip on her weapon.

Neo lands on the ground, releasing herself from the whip's bindings. In doing so she accidentally knocks over the bag of books Yang was carrying, able to see what's on top. With a quirked eyebrow she reads the title of the story, getting some inspiration for her next attack…

The BA pair of vibrant gets up, groaning from the hit. With neither of them still armed they're at a massive disadvantage. All Neo needs to do is to get the weapons far away from the girls, and they'll be helpless in battle.

It comes as surprise when they just see Neo standing there, close to the weapons but not doing anything about them. A quick rush would allow them to grab their weapons back, even if it causes them some damage in return. They expect Neo to kick the two blades away, but instead of that she's gently leaning on her umbrella. She gives a small smirk before clapping twice.

…

Blake and Ilia look surprised, unsure what just happened. From a single glance at one another they decide to rush at their weapons. The dash stops before it even began, as they witness a rather curious transformation of their weapons:

A pair of cartoonish eyes form on the blade of both weapons, as black stick-like arms and legs grow on both weapons' hilt. It's as if they've been suddenly given life, as they stand up and wave towards their owner. Blake and Ilia look at the ridiculous situation, caused by what looks to be their enemy's semblance.

"Gambol Shroud?"

"Lightning Lash?"

As if on cue both weapons run away from their user, Gambol Shroud jumping out of the window while Lightning Lash jumps up on the ice cream counter.

Both members of Vibrant try to grab their weapon, but the two blades continuously manage to give their wielders the slip. The two are so into getting their weapons back that they half forgot about Neo, who looks with satisfaction to the results of her work. Hopefully Roman is managing to dispatch his girls as well.

Down in the street Roman wishes that he was doing as well as Neo. Two shotgun-gauntlets and two wind and fire wheels against a single infinite shoot glove? Even with the power of lasers Roman cannot stop their assault. Slowly but surely these two girls are defeating him. His aura slowly but steadily draining Torchwick is looking for some way out of this predicament.

With his current equipment he won't be able to get out of this. However, there is one random element that just might help him recover: The current laser setting of his infinite shoot glove is powerful, but it's better suited for keeping people away than close-quarters combat. If he changed the settings of his glove, perhaps something more suitable could come up. That, or the exact opposite. Maybe Torchwick will be stuck with an infinite shoot glove that works as a glorified flashlight.

Another strike from the blonde that gets through tells Torchwick that he doesn't have the time to ponder. It's time for action, and the only choice is to gamble on that chance for victory!

One upcoming fist of the blonde, and a chakram from the brunette. Torchwick pushes the button and holds out his hand, charging the power to shoot whatever his glove now lets him shoot.

A small and flaming orb flows from the infinite shoot glove, its form stable until it connects with Yang's fist. The contact causes the orb to shrink in on itself, before exploding violently. All three combatants are sent flying by the created shockwaves, the two girls in the direction of the shop while Torchwick crashes against a brick wall in the opposite direction.

With a groan Roman stands up, looking at what just caused the blast. He reads the description that appeared on the glove out loud: "Plasma mode? Why couldn't I start off with this?"

Yang and Vernal also stood up from the sudden close-range explosion, ready for another round at Torchwick. Before they do so they sense something approaching them fast from behind, making them step to the side to see what just missed them:

There flies a white handle attached to a string. It is heading straight for Torchwick who catches it with his free hand. Yang and Vernal look back at the store where the handle came from. They are shocked to see that Vibrant lost the battle there:

Neo looks pretty much unharmed as she shoots Melodic Cudgel at Roman, while the members of Vibrant look beaten. Ilia lies unconscious in the store itself, while Blake left the store to hunt after what appears to be a sentient version of Gambol Shroud. From her side of the street Yang can see her teammate's weapons still in the store, only a meter or so away from Neo, who is just smirking at the remaining pair. The two partners can only stare in shock, how did their teammates lose this badly?

Amidst the surprise Torchwick retracts the rest of his weapon, now being a cane that once more is in his possession. "Ah, Melodic Cudgel, how I've missed you, sweetheart." Now wielding his original weapon once more Torchwick is ready to smack some poor unfortunate huntresses around!

Yang wants to do the same but realizes that the situation turned dire. She orders Vernal to protect Ilia, while she'll continue fighting Torchwick. Her partner agrees, throwing Sun Xiang at the short girl. Neo dodges it with ease but looks slightly surprised when she sees the black katana of the noirette to fly towards this huntress. Vernal catches Gambol Shroud, before throwing it at its rightful owner:

"Blake!"

Blake's bow twitches slightly as she hears Vernal call out her name, making her turn around to see Gambol Shroud flying at her face. She catches the weapon out of the air, noticing that it's indeed the real deal. Blake looks at the Sentient version of her weapon she's been chasing, wondering just what that is. Sentient Gambol Shroud looks at her master with an annoyed glare, before shattering into nothingness.

Huh. Well, that was strange. The huntress doesn't have time to contemplate what that was, as she sees two teammates fighting the two criminals. Without hesitating she runs after Yang, helping her out with catching Torchwick.

Now that her illusions have finished their purpose Neo dismisses all of them, instead mentally preparing herself for her next challenger. The short-haired girl is coming for her, charging in all by her lonesome. That's fine by her. If these girls want to get knocked out one by one, who is she to deny their wish?

Neo steps to the side, the wind and fire wheel that landed behind her flying back into Vernal's hand. She expected as much, having seen the huntress do something similar with her teammate's weapon. Now in close range Vernal begins her assault.

Strikes from every direction are aimed at Neo, who continues to dodge between them. Tricky movement combined with unusual tactics should unbalance Neo, but the only strike she couldn't dodge thus far was blacked with her parasol.

Vernal starts to get agitated at her inability to get a solid hit in, something Neo accepts with a smile. How precious, a huntress who thinks she can fight on anger alone. You can trust Neo on this one, all that does is make your attacks wilder, less skilled and way more predictable!

Oh well, let her waste her energy on meaningless effort. Neo will just get a few little hits in while her opponents runs herself haggard. A kick to the shins, a parasol butting into the head and stomach, enough little hits that slowly drain aura. With every hit Vernal gets angrier and Neo's smirk grows. After dodging another wild swing Neo backflips and lands on the counter of the Fro'Go store, assessing the situation:

An opponent who is slightly out of breath, wind and fire wheels help slightly too low compared to her stance when she approached. It's clear to the tri-colored girl that her opponent is ready to be taken down.

Vernal makes a large downward swing with Sun Shang, which is precisely the type of attack the parasol wielder hoped to see. Utilizing the momentum from Vernal's attack Neo latches on to the young huntress' back, her parasol pressing hard against Vernal's neck, choking her and making use of Aura's major weakness.

Aura is very capable at protecting someone against a single hit. A bullet or a sword, something along those lines. At the cost of some aura you take no damage from the strike. But what if you get choked? If you keep your aura up the constant damage you take will make that protection disappear like smoke, and if you drop your aura you obviously get choked. There's a reason this was a favored tactic of legendary assassin Marcus Black.

Vernal tries to claw at Neo, getting the pesky girl off her back, but she can't find the strength to do so. All her swings have made her too tired to overpower Neo. After several seconds her aura breaks, and after a few more she loses conscious, dropping on the ground.

Neo steps off the body of Vernal, one hand resting on the handle of her parasol-cane, unsheathing it slightly. Two of her opponents lie unconscious on the ground for at least a few more minutes, girls who might become a problem later in life. In four years they will be full-fledged huntresses with a grudge against her and Roman. Better to nip that in the bud.

Neo looks over at Torchwick, who is firing plasma balls at the blonde and the noirette while blocking their attacks with melodic cudgel. Though he's doing his best he can only stay on the defensive for so long. It's with more luck than skill that he somehow manages to get some distance in the fight.

Looks like it won't be long before her dum-dum needs some help, leaving Neo's time limited. Either she kills these two girls right here and now, or she makes the Fro'Go cups that she and Torchwick came here for.

Well, that's no contest at all! Some huntresses have met their defeat, so now team Roneo will enjoy their frozen treat! Neo walks behind the counter and starts preparing the frozen yogurt. As she does so she looks outside, seeing Torchwick's combat turn sour:

As Roman tries to make another shot from his blaster his palm glows slightly before shutting down. Yang and Blake notice as well, temporarily stopping in their tracks to see Torchwick fumbling with his glove.

"Empty again?" The thief says in an exasperated tone, "If wi-fi is going to drain the battery this fast, then what's the point?" Instead of trying to rig an empty weapon to work the criminal returns to his good old melodic cudgel, raising the base of the cane to utilize its gun mode.

The two huntresses run straight for the criminal, who still doesn't fire. Only when they're halfway there does Roman start his attack:

Instead of firing straight ahead Roman turns melodic cudgel to the right, the shot not even coming close to the girls. Instead the explosion occurs right under a car, the energy from the blast launching the vehicle straight at the raven-haired huntress. A second shot aimed at a car on the left creates a similar projectile for her teammate.

Upon seeing the projectiles Blake stops her sprint and uses her semblance to appear a few feet above and behind her original position. As her clone dissipates from being hit by the car Blake only barely manages to graze the top of the car, leaping off the vehicle's roof.

Yang meanwhile has a different approach to this attack. She makes no effort to dodge the car, or anything similar. Instead she grabs the car with a single outstretched hand, using the strength of her semblance to carry the vehicle like it's made of foam. Yang pitches the car like one would a baseball, sending it straight at her enemy. Torchwick stares in surprise as a car is flying at him at a speed of a hundred miles per hour.

"What the frickity fra-"

Roman's curse is cut short as vehicle crashes into him. Roman finds out the hard way that Yang's semblance is not something you want to face head-on if it's active.

Another thing he discovers is that being smashed with a car does wonders for your velocity. Roman gets to experience it firsthand as he's flung through the street. As he comes to a stop amidst scraps of destroyed vehicle he stands up, trying to keep up appearances by dusting off his clothes.

"Just bought this new outfit…" As Roman is busy dusting, he notices that some piece of scrap managed to make a tear on the left sleeve of his suit. "…and apparently I can already throw it in the trash."

Though his speech is callous Roman knows he is in trouble. If his clothing can be torn, then he's out of aura. And fighting without a back-up shield… well, that's a risk the greatest thief of Vale doesn't take.

"Well then, ladies." Tipping his head to the incoming huntress team he politely explains that he has to leave: "It's been a lovely evening, but I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to. Neo, if you would?"

Having long since disengaged from her own fight Neo appears next to her boss, parasol in one hand and a plastic bag filled with their frozen yogurt in the other. The short girl gives a curtsy, while Roman goes for a gentlemanly bow.

Yang decides on a more hands-on goodbye, specifically her hand in Roman's face. In a mad dash she rushes at the thief, speeding herself up with the recoil from Ember Celica. Fist connects with Roman's face, punching the thief so hard that he shatters into glass fragments.

…

Wait, what? Yang looks at the results of her punch, before quickly realizing that it was nothing more than an illusion. Looking around for the two criminals she's unable to find them, no trace left of the dastardly duo.

With a loud yell Yang gives voice to her frustrations at Torchwick eluding team Vibrant. Torchwick the master thief? Hah! If it weren't for the girl he would be in jail about now! Damn it all!

"And he escaped." Vernal walks over to her partner, her gait somewhat wobbly but the snark in her voice obvious. "Who knew that the thief who can elude professional huntsmen would be able to elude a team of freshmen?"

"Shut it, Vernal." Yang doesn't have the time to deal with this. While the fight was a plus, the fact that they didn't catch Roman leaves a sour taste in her mouth.

"Oh, lighten up." Vernal puts her arm around her partner's shoulder, acting way too positive for someone who lost a fight. "If you behave, maybe I'll share the spoils." With her free hand the former bandit dangles a brown wallet in front of Yang's eyes, who looks surprised at this unfamiliar object.

"Is that… his?"

"Freshly picked off Vale's greatest thief during the fight." Greedily Vernal opens her prize, not able to wait what kind of price she just obtained. With a single move she pulls out all the cash cards, counting just how much she made. After an optimistic start Vernal's smile starts to drop: "Fifty-seven, fifty-eight… that's it? The greatest thief in Vale only carries fifty-eight lien and a credit card in his pocket?"

With a groan Vernal stashes the money in her own wallet, ready to throw away Roman's fancy one as a spiteful response to his apparent poverty. It's only Ilia and Blake holding her back, the former trying to tell Vernal not to be so hasty.

"If you don't want the wallet, mind if we use it?" Ilia has woken up as well, looking a bit worse for the wear but still in okay shape. "I think we can make more money off scum like Torchwick than fifty-eight lien."

"And how do we do that?" Vernal is intrigued by their idea, though still somewhat wary about how these two civilians try to accomplish something a professional bandit holds for impossible.

There's a five-numbered pin code standing in-between team Vibrant and Roman's bank account. Even if they were to guess at random, the chance of success in one in a hundred thousand. With only three tries before the account locks up the chance of success is near nil!

"Try 76626, or 86724." Ilia comes up with a few possible codes at seemingly random. Blake helps as well, making a small change to one of the codes:

"Hm… maybe 76636, given his assistant?"

After mulling on that code for a while Ilia approves of her partner's idea. They ask Vernal to try out these pin codes, expecting a possible success.

Vernal rolls her eyes at those one in a hundred thousand chances but does as her team wants. Using an ATM-machine at the opposite side of 27th street Vernal tries out the three codes she's given. "There's no way this is going to work."

 _Two tries later:_

"How the hell did this just work?" Vernal is staring perplexedly at the ATM-machine, which has given access to Roman's bank account. The pin code for the card was 86724, exactly as Ilia predicted.

"He's a thief." Ilia spats out, smiling as she realized the plan worked. "A predictable one at that."

Blake proceeds to continue her teammate's explanation: Criminals like Torchwick usually have multiple bank accounts to prevent them from losing all their money if they get caught. With each one having a different password just in case, it's hard to keep trach of all codes. To keep remembering all their passcodes they either keep notes in their wallets with the code written down, or they make the passwords simple to remember. The three possibilities Blake and Ilia gave were the words "Roman", "Torch" and RoNeo" changed into numbers according to the number pads on old scrolls.

As intrigued as Vernal is by this information, which she will certainly keep in mind for reporting back to Raven's camp, the screen in front of her is way more interesting:

"Ooh… would you look at that. Fifty-thousand lien, right for the taking!" Okay, it's officially only 48.749 lien and seventy cents, but that's still a lot of money! It's enough to last a team of four for a year if they're parsimonious.

"Fifty-thousand?!" The rest of team Vibrant are almost unable to believe it, pushing each other away to look at the small ATM-screen. Yes, it's there. Almost fifty-thousand lien, more than twelve-thousand lien per person. Vernal quickly transfers all the money to her own account, making team Vibrant pretty rich. Now in possession of thousands of lien each it doesn't take much for each member to imagine themselves spending the money:

"Luxurious lifestyle, no worries about survival…"

"The speed of Bumblebee with a supercharger…"

"Books… so many books!"

"Mhm, a trip to the amusement park just for me and Blake…"

"Ahem."

Team Vibrant looks around, where they find a pissed Fro'Go owner. It's not surprising, the inside of the shop looks like it's been hit by a hurricane. Yeah, this is awkward. Yang feels quite guilty for causing all this damage. Really, she feels sorry for whomever has to-

"Hmph."

-clean up. Given that old man shopkeep just threw four brooms into the hands of team Vibrant it's clear who the supposed clean-up crew are. A good day of shopping, fighting and getting rich ends with cleaning up.

Oh well, at least it can't get any worse, right?

 _Two hours later, in Glynda's office at Beacon_

"I hope you realize that your actions today won't be taken lightly, ladies."

Yang was wrong, it can get worse. Apparently, some bystander did the logical and sensible thing: Notify Beacon that Torchwick has been spotted making a ruckus downtown. When Glynda appeared on the scene she only found a team of huntresses-in-training who didn't realize the folly of their actions.

On the bright side, cleaning up the store was a lot easier with the telekinesis of Glynda's semblance. The downside is that they're now forced to listen to her lecturing the group on why challenging a dangerous huntsman is a profoundly stupid idea:

You put yourselves and others in great danger. Especially others. Tell me, could you imagine what would happen if the shopkeeper of the Fro'Go got hurt in the skirmish?"

VYBA stays silent, realizing well that it would be bad for not just them but Beacon as a whole. Their reckless actions would've harmed the reputation of Beacon as a whole.

"If it were up to me you wouldn't get off with just a slap on the wrist. But, there's someone here who has taken on the job of deciding your punishment."

Glynda steps back, watching Ozpin himself step through the door. His trusty mug in hand, he looks over the girls who performed the misdeed.

"Team Vibrant…"

No way, Ozpin himself is here? Yang looks surprised, not expecting that he would need to get involved.

"I've heard about your recent adventure. I must say I'm surprised; I believe Glynda's lessons about apprehending criminals doesn't start until a month from now." Ozpin's tone is still jovial, but there's a bit of sting to it that tells the girls that they're in trouble. "Though if you were to be graded according to that course's standards all four of you would've failed without doubt."

"Well…" Yang doesn't have an excuse ready for that. Heck, even without that course she knows she failed at apprehending Torchwick. The sting in Ozpin's voice does lessen a bit, as he explains how VYBA will be punished:

"But I think it was a valuable lesson to you all. So valuable, in fact, I believe they should share it with all of the first-years." Ozpin turns to Glynda, telling her of his idea: "Glynda, how about during those lessons of yours team Vibrant will give a presentation about the do's and don'ts of stopping dangerous criminals?"

"I suppose that is an option, yes." Glynda agrees? VYBA only punishment is to give a presentation? Well, that sounds to Yang like they got off eas-"Though I will make sure to punish you with several weeks of kitchen duty if the presentation isn't up to standard."-or not.

"Now that team Vibrant has been punished, I believe that your job is finished, Glynda. I have one last thing to discuss with them in private before I'll allow them to go on their way."

Glynda gets the cue and leaves her office. With the teacher out of ear range Ozpin starts to talk about the true crux of the issue: "Now then, I've come to know that you've managed to steal about fifty thousand lien from Roman Torchwick."

"Forty-eight thousand, actually." Yang corrects, getting poked in her ribs by a partner who doesn't want to divulge that information. It's a bit too late, as the truth has just been revealed. "I mean, well, I don't think it was legal money to begin with."

"Indeed, miss Xiao-Long. That money originally belonged to the community of Vale, and it should belong once more to that community." No, it can't be, is he really ordering them to give away the money? Vernal is ready to protest, but Ozpin finishes what he wants to say. "Therefore, I need you four to ensure that the inhabitants of Vale receive their money. I expect that the four of you will have a combined minimum expenditure of forty-eight thousand lien in the upcoming month."

Wit that Ozpin takes a large gulp from his mug, looking at a team that can almost shout it out from joy. Their leader takes her team in a large group hug, a wide grin on her face. The other girls are grinning as well, each of them having obtained about twelve thousand lien to spend in the upcoming month. It's going to be a month of luxury for them, and they know it!

Ozpin leads the group out of Glynda's office, sending the team on their way. The girls go back to their dorm, ready to enjoy their month of luxury!

* * *

 **What a chapter this was. Weiss made the first step in mastering her semblance, team Vibrant made money and Torchwick got his frozen treat. Everyone is happy, except for maybe the Leviathan.**

 **With this the first of the four short stories are finished. Originally the Sternenstaub adventure was supposed to be the second of the four Atlas stories, but due to writer's block and other circumstances I shifted it forwards. It does mean that the recent chapters were a bit Weiss-heavy, but that will be alleviated soon.**

 **Now for the question:**

 **ChicaFenix88:** _ **A cat faunus wielding a sword? Does Kitty have any relation to Blake?  
**_ **As for Kitty... she's Kitty, a random bit character made up for the story. Remember Perry and Deery from canon? A dog faunus and deer faunus who belong to the white fang? They've little importance to the plot but still have unique models and a few voice lines. Kitty belongs in the same group as these two. As for the sword, White Fang mooks either wield a mass-produced sword or a mass-produced rifle (Or they all wield a sword-rifle). There's zero relation between Kitty and Blake, other than maybe (former) boss and subordinate.**


	11. Chapter 2-2

It's been two months since the battle at the seas of Argus, and life has been going its way. The extra points from the trip have been helpful to give an extra boost to the few courses that they were having trouble with. It should be a useful bonus for the exams coming up in a few weeks. The team is going to do their best to get high enough grades in both the physical and mental courses to ensure that they will be amongst the eight teams who may participate in the Vytal festival!

Still, it's not what is holding up the team these days. There's still enough time until the tests, meaning that right now they can loaf around doing miscellaneous stuff. For Ruby and Ciel, this means that after a long day of school the evening is the perfect moment to challenge one another in a game of UDOST. As for how they're doing, well…

"Argh!" Ruby shouts out in frustration to her opponent. "Can you stop spamming that gun for, like, just one combo?"

"Then stop spamming Grim Reaper!" Ciel shouts back just as loudly, equally annoyed at het teammate's playstyle.

"Grim Reaper is fair and balanced neutral!"

The accusations fly from both sides, but through all their bickering they keep their attention on the match. Neither of them is willing to give an inch, ready to use every cheap trick in the book to drop their opponent's aura bar to zero.

When Weiss walks in the main room she sees two of her teammates playing that video game again, with the third one quietly watching from one of the chairs. Ugh, what is with these girls and their games? A Schnee should not waste her time with such trivial entertainment. She's the type to make sure that she only plays when there are no more pressing matters, and when she does decide to play makes sure to do everything perfectly. At least Ruby understands that as well, considering that she rarely bugs Weiss to playing the game together. Still, that doesn't mean that Ruby can just go ahead and play: "Ruby, aren't you supposed to be making dinner right now?"

"Later!" The real reason why Ruby doesn't invite Weiss that often is because facing her in a match is… weird, so to say. When Ruby introduced her partner to the game Weiss was just plain terrible. In response to being beaten soundly Weiss went online for the cure: She searched for the strongest combo she could find for her rapier-wielding character, spend multiple hours perfecting the execution of that combo, and called it a day. The result is that every match with Weiss is either 'Ruby obtains a perfect win' or 'Weiss finishes you off in two to three combos', which is not exactly the most fun thing to play against.

Ruby and Ciel continue their spam-filled fight, eventually setting on Ciel as the winner.

"Salutations!" Now that the match is over Penny sees this as an opportune moment to butt into their game. "I see that you are playing Upper Day Out-Death Exe:Soon[est]. Is it possible for me to join in as well?"

The idea of fighting Penny sends shivers through both girls. If fighting Weiss is weird, then fighting Penny is just straight up impossible! She manages to play the hardest character in the game with near-perfect accuracy! You would have to be a machine to be able to play that character as well as Penny does! Facing her is a curbstomp in the redhead's favor!

"Hey Ciel, why don't you go against Penny? Weiss did tell me to start cooking, after all." With a dash of her semblance Ruby goes from the main room to the kitchen, leaving Ciel behind as a sacrifice to Penny's divine gaming skills. Ciel, you will not be forgotten.

In the kitchen Ruby is busy working on her creation, this time trying to make a risotto. Though her cooking skills at the start of the schoolyear were kinda meh, right now she's at least as capable a cook as her dad! Which is to say, she's pretty decent! …ish. At least Weiss doesn't have any complaints about it anymore. That's a plus, right?

Thirty minutes later dinner is ready, and the team sits down to eat. Penny joins too, not to eat but to enjoy the conversation with her team. In the background the holographic television is talking about the news, which everyone is only listening to with half an ear as they eat their meal. All is well…

…until an emergency report comes in.

"We just received a report that a breach has occurred in Mantle's northern wall. A large number of grimm is headed to Mantle's northern residential districts. We advise all citizens of Mantle to stay indoors and wait until the danger is over."

"That's horrible!" Ruby shouts out as she stands up. "We've got to do something!"

Ruby's proposal gets immediately shot down by Weiss. Before Ruby can protest Wiess explains why she disagrees with her partner. "Solving this crisis is the job of the soldiers and huntsmen of Atlas. Our job is to learn and get stronger so we can become huntsmen one day as well. And right now that means that we sit down and eat our food."

"And leave it to people like those we met on the Sternenstaub? Weiss, we both know that any one of us can beat those two combined."

"Accurate," Ciel admits, "but not relevant. We are talented, but inexperienced. Headlong jumping into danger would be foolish."

Ruby doesn't have a counter to that, so sulkingly she sits down and takes another bite of her food. If they want to be like that, then fine. Ruby has her own idea of what she needs to do:

Ruby wolves down her food as quickly as she can. As the first one to finish her food Ruby calls out to the rest of Scorpio for her intentions for today: "So… I'm going to take a quick walk, see how everyone else is doing… yeah, that." And certainly not something stupid like trying to fight the grimm down in Mantle. Because yeah, Ruby totally isn't planning to do that.

It's quite poor as far as excuses go, but Ruby doesn't give her team the time to question it. She dashes out of the apartment, ready to go!

…

Three seconds later she sheepishly walks back into the dorm room, grabbing Crescent Rose before rushing out again with the door slammed shut behind her. Standing in the central hall of the sixth floor of their dormitory, Ruby declares her goal for all the world to hear:

"Right, time to save Mantle!"

Ruby looks surprised, as she wasn't the only one who said those words. Looking to her side she sees the leader of their neighboring team, Robin. He's just as determined, equipped and surprised as Ruby herself. Now that their eyes meet the young huntress asks why the leader of Regal is trying to save Mantle as well.

"Remember what I said when we first met?" Robin asks. Ruby doesn't get what Robin is alluding to, so he quotes his own words from back then: "I'm a Mantle boy, through and through. Can't leave my hometown hanging, can I?"

"Oooh…" But now that he says that Ruby remembers something else from initiation: "But what about Laura? Isn't she from Mantle as well?"

"I'm coming as well." Stepping out of RGAL's apartment is Laura, dressed in her black and yellow combat outfit. Well, it appears that an additional fighter has entered the fray. "Does this mean our Mantle rescue party consists out of three people now?"

Robin nods, and the trio take the elevator down. Instead of pressing the button for the ground floor Robin opens the locked box that's for security only. He presses a button inside the box labeled with a "B". The elevator goes down, but as they reach the lowest floor the elevator continues to go down!

The elevator stops one floor below what Ruby thought possible. The lift door slides to the side, and Ruby's eyes go wide from what she sees.

"You created a secret basement beneath the academy?" A secret basement indeed. It's still quite empty, looking to have only been in use for a month or two. The only things of note are the expensive looking computer system and the motorcycle with a sidecar, leaving a lot of empty space to be filled. "That's really cool, but how did you get Ironwood to give you access to this basement?"

"Oh, he didn't." Laura explains to Ruby. Quickly she tells Ruby about the Port Fort Protocol, a secret backdoor implemented by the headmasters of Atlas and Beacon in case someone tries to use an abandoned part of a building for 'the greater good'. Thanks to Robin invoking it he managed to claim the right to develop this space into an emergency response center.

In the meantime Robin grabs a few helmets out of an unsorted pile of stuff in the corner, handing one to his partner and the other to Ruby. Robin asks his friend about how experienced is with vehicles like these:

"Ever been on a motorcycle, Ruby?" Ruby nods, explaining her experience on the back of Yang's Bumblebee. "Then you get to sit behind me. Laura, take the sidecar!"

Everyone takes their positions, and a side door opens to one of Atlas' alleys. Robin starts up the engines, his hand gripping the accelerator handle. "Let's go save Mantle, girls!"

After a trip of ten minutes the trio reach the edge of the city, which is a literal edge. The outsides of Atlas are surrounded by a nine feet high chain fence, to prevent anyone from falling off. Ruby debarks from the motorcycle and looks through the fence, seeing no ground on the other side for at least several miles. She knew that Atlas floats in the sky, but she didn't expect it to be this high!

"Atlas is floating about two miles above ground." Laura walks up next to Ruby, pointing out how far they'll be falling. "I assume you know any landing strategies?"

Ruby's answer is to unfold her beloved Crescent Rose. She's learned more than enough of such strategies from her SERE lessons, and even without them she could survive such a fall. What kind of chump does Laura take Ruby for?

At seeing that answer Laura gives a small nod, and she jumps over the fence down to Mantle. Robin lets out a small shout at seeing his partner jump. Realizing that he is too late to change anything he can only curse under his breath.

"Robin?" Ruby asks, "Is something wrong?

"No, it's just that Laura's landing strategy is, well…" Robin tries to find the right words to explain what just happened but doesn't really have anything. "Look, just don't be too disturbed by Laura when you land."

It's not exactly clear to Ruby what Robin meant with that, but she'll keep that in mind. The two huntsmen in training jump over the railing as well, ready to employ their own landing strategies.

Ruby's training in SERE has changed her landing strategy somewhat. Instead of falling head-first into danger she seeks out a proper landing spot, tilting her body to steer towards her goal. She finds an open plaza, large enough to stick the landing and deserted enough that the number of grimm will be low. Robin agrees and follows her to the landing spot.

At a thousand feet in the air it's time to deploy landing strategies. Ruby aims Crescent Rose downwards and fires bullets filled with gravity dust, the recoil significantly decreasing her aerial speed. Robin instead deploys a yellow wingsuit, its colors somewhat clashing with his red and green outfit but still useful for lowering his falling speed. Both lower their speed enough that they can start the final phase of their landing strategy:

Crescent Rose unfolds in all its glory, while Robin's eskrima sticks fuse together into a bo staff. Ruby's target of landing is a pillar in the middle of the plaza, a ten-yard-tall marble pillar thicker than Ruby is wide. Crescent Rose hooks into the pillar, metal clashing against stone. With her scythe as an anchor point she descends around the pillar, moving in circles around the cylindrical object. The more her scythe grinds against the pillar the more she loses speed, coming to nearly a halt when she steps down onto the ground.

Robin instead chooses the open ground, holding his staff downwards as the crystal in the tip of it starts to glow in a black color. The gravity dust crystal ignites a foot or two above the ground, causing enough recoil that Robin lands without any significant loss of aura.

Robin takes out his scroll, using a tracker to find the location of his partner. He urges Ruby to follow him, so that the three of them can go and fight the grimm together.

As Ruby runs through the streets and alleys of Mantle she sees just what kind of city Robin grew up in. The city reminds Ruby of the shadier parts of Vale, the places her dad actively stopped her from going to. Still perfectly livable, but it has a dark and moody atmosphere around it that makes her a bit uncomfortable. It has a bit of a poor feel to it as well, like the basic living conditions are just out of reach for its inhabitants.

It's not like Ruby couldn't live here if she had to, but she greatly prefers her new abode in Atlas.

After a minute or so of sifting through alleys and main streets, while occasionally slaying the stray grimm, the duo manages to reach Laura. She landed in a back alley, wide enough that she could easily fall in-between the houses. Ruby sees her fellow huntress-in-training, and her first reaction…

"Aaaaah!"

…it is not a positive one.

"Oh no. nonononono!" That does not look good. Laura's condition is, as Penny would say, not combat ready. Both legs are broken, the left bending unnaturally and the right femur sticking out of her body. The tiles she landed on splintered on impact, and several shards are sticking through the legs, pelvis and kidney. One of the shards even managed to sever Laura's right arm, lying several feet away from her!

As disturbed as Ruby is, so annoyed is Robin by his partner: "Laura, how often did I tell you that relying on your healing factor is not a good landing strategy!"

Ruby looks at Robin in disbelief. Does he mean to say that Laura fell down several miles and impacted the ground at terminal velocity? Is she insane?

"It's efficient." Laura replies impassively as she pops her left leg back into place, not caring about how the situation looks. This only seems to infuriate Robin even further, as he walks up to Laura's severed arm and picks it up.

"Efficient? Your arm is off!"

"An unfortunate accident." With her remaining hand Laura gestures Robin to give back her other arm, which he does. Upon receiving the arm Laura points out an advantage of her situation. "Furthermore, I now possess an arm sword. My reach has been doubled."

That was a joke… Ruby thinks. The emotionless way Laura said that didn't fully convey the message. No, it does appear to be a joke as Laura attaches her arm back to her body, the cut being clean enough that the arm can be reapplied by pressing it tightly against her body.

A minute later and Laura has recovered… somewhat. All extremities are attached and working, though there are several stone shards still sticking out of her torso. It's not enough to hinder Laura from running, so the trio continue to move towards the grimm invasion.

Finding grimm is not so difficult. All you would need to do is to follow the sound of gunfire, and you would arrive to the fight scene where Atlas military is combating those monsters. But helping the military is not the purpose of the three Atlesian students. If the military would suffer any losses during this fight, they would make sure that it's mostly going to be androids who will take the brunt of the damage. No, the ones who need reinforcements are those who don't have anyone to fight for them.

In-between the gunfire and sirens Laura can identify the sound of a human scream. Now that does sound like someone that could use their help!

They see a family of four standing outside of an emergency shelter when they arrive on the scene, surrounded by many feline-type grimm. A pride of sabyrs, if Ruby remembers the lessons from grimm studies correctly.

One of them lunges at the family, but a quick shot from Crescent Rose ensures that the only things landing on the family are a few bits of evaporating grimm ash.

That got the attention of the rest of the sabyr pride. Realizing which group is the most dangerous of the two the sabyrs rush at the three huntsmen-in-training, planning to overwhelm the trio with numbers.

With a cocky smile Ruby unfurls Crescent Rose fully, and with a dash of her semblance she decapitates the closest of these beasts.

Heh, all too easy. It's just as their teacher said: sabyrs are fast and large, but they're too thinly armored to take more than a single strike. Using her own speed to outdo the grimm's advantage she pushes forward towards the civilians, cutting straight through two of the grimm in the process. Quickly she positions herself between the human family and the grimm, ordering the noncombatants to enter the shelter.

"The shelter doors don't open!" The oldest member of the family shouts in panic. "It's malfunctioning!"

Ruby grips Crescent Rose even tighter. Protecting civilians is not exactly what first-years like her are trained to do. Normally she follows the adage "Don't worry about anything but the fight, simple is best" when fighting, but can she restrain herself to keep these civilians safe?

"Then stay behind us!" Ruby hears Robin shout to the family as he dents the cranium of one beast with his eskrima stick, giving the family hope and decreasing their negativity. At hearing this Ruby realizes that she isn't alone, and that there's a team leader here. In that case she'll work as a honorary member of team RGAL… RRGAL perhaps? Anyway, she should make sure to follow Robin's lead.

Robin himself is moving through the horde of grimm, drawing aggression and taking grimm out where he can. With his eskrima sticks he might not be able to cause significant blunt damage, but the lightning crystals in his weapons are electrifying enough to significantly harm grimm. It doesn't really matter that much where Robin hits the grimm: Neck, chest, abdomen, stifle, head; A single electric charge is enough to leave the grimm weak enough that they die with a single thwack to their skulls.

Another grimm lunges at Robin, jaw wide to take a hearty bite out of the huntsman. It's fast, but Robin is faster by sticking the butt of the eskrima stick in the sabyr's jaw. With the press of the button he discharges lightning into the grimm.

It doesn't do much, the energy in the lightning crystal too low to be functional for combat. The beast bites down on the weapon, trying to break it before breaking its wielder. Robin barely manages to evade having his hand bitten off, but this grimm doesn't let go. Other grimm are now cycling this trapped huntsman, hoping to get a kill on Regal's team leader.

Robin has to make a hard decision: Let go of one of his weapons or face more grimm while stuck to one of them. With more sabyrs approaching his position he makes his choice:

Neither!

In a single fluid motion Robin fuses his eskrima sticks back together into a single bo staff. Now that his weapon is a long stick he can use it as a lever to throw the beast with ease, sending the grimm flying at Ruby. With a quick yell from Robin to warn the reaper in red Ruby is easily able to cut the helpless grimm in four. The two give each other a nod and a smile, before continuing to slay grimm.

Laura isn't slouching either. A sabyr tries to rip the head off of Laura's shoulders, but the faunus quickly slides below the sabyr and slashes open its stomach with her natural-born weapons. If this grimm were an ordinary animal it would drop dead with its entrails hanging out, but its shadowy nature only makes it disappear into smoke.

Two more sabyrs lunge at the raven-haired girl. With a cartwheel jump she manages to simultaneously evade the attacks and sink her claws in the napes of both feline grimm. It instantly kills the two overgrown cats.

The sabyr pride gets culled by the three huntsmen, but that doesn't mean that they're about to give up. No, they just need to look for openings where they can slay one of these people. So how fortunate is it that of the family of four non-combating humans the youngest got scared and tried to run away?

One of the sabyrs takes this opportunity to take down the first of these seven humans. It traverses round the battlefield towards the singled-out prey, who is trying to escape. This brat will be its kill!

It takes the loud shout from the mother to make the students realize that something is wrong. One of the children got scared and tried to flee, which only managed to leave him wide open for the grimm!

Ruby wants to go in and save the kid, but two sabyrs block her path. One gets slain in a single stroke, but the other manages to bite down on Crescent Rose. Ruby can try to save the kid without her weapon, but what can she do? She isn't Yang or Ciel, someone who can break grimm with their mere hands. Ruby's a frail girl who can only kick grimm butt with her beloved two-meter-tall baby Crescent Rose!

Ruby fires a few shots from her sniper-scythe. The bullets don't hit anything meaningful, but the recoil is enough to dislocate the jaw of the sabyr holding her weapon. Now that Crescent Rose is free again Ruby dashes for the child, sprinting at a breakneck pace with her semblance to ensure that the kid is safe.

Ruby is fast, but not fast enough to get there in time. She turns her weapon into sniper mode, taking a potshot at the wild grimm. The shot flies through the air, fast enough to strike the grimm straight in its stifle. Its right front leg gets blown off straight from the socket. The grimm is wounded, but the shot didn't manage to kill. With this last attack being a failure the grimm is free to kill the child!

"Nooo!"

Before the grimm can sink its teeth in the head of the child a bright green laser pierces through the upper body of the sabyr, causing it to disintegrate.

A green laser? Can it be?

"Penny!" Ruby shouts out as she realizes that it's none other than her teammate! Said teammate jumps from the top of the emergency shelter, landing in front of the child with Floating Array in sword form encircling them both.

The sabyrs now feel somewhat threatened, realizing that they suddenly don't have the advantage anymore to get a quick kill. This environment has become a bit too grimm-unfriendly to continue hunting in. it's a pity of these humans, but perhaps some new ground needs to be trod if they want to deal some damage to humanity.

There's about a dozen grimm left. They run away as one, realizing that while they probably won't all escape enough of them should be able to regroup and find some other targets.

The huntsmen-in-training also realize that their opponent is trying to flee, and therefore try to strike down the remaining sabyrs. Ruby is the fastest to react, slamming the tip of her scythe into one of the nearby grimm, piercing all the way through until Crescent Rose hits the ground underneath it.

This grimm is now dead, but Ruby isn't done yet. With a single flick her scythe changes into a Sy-pod, letting her take two shots with the rifle part of Crescent Rose. The first shot is a miss, but the second manages to take down another of the grimm.

Laura and Robin are lacking in ranged weaponry, but that doesn't mean they don't have a tactic for taking down faraway enemies. Laura grabs one end of Robin's staff with Robin himself grabbing the other end. He lifts the staff with Laura attached and spins around twice. Now with momentum build up he throws his staff like a javelin at the pride. The staff itself lands in the middle of the pack, pinning one of them to the ground while Laura jumps off with enemies around her. Three quick slashes cull the sabyr pack by the same number, before they get past her as well.

Six left. Of the group Penny has the best ranged options, so she will make sure to take out as many as possible. The swords of Floating Array rearrange themselves into groups of three, each of these groups turning into a laser cannon. To make up for the slow rate of fire of Floating Array she uses volley fire, firing two cannons at the same time while letting the other two cannons cool down.

Two laser cannons warm up, gathering the energy for a laser pulse. Within a second the needed energy is gathered, allowing Penny to fire her weapon. Lasers fly from both cannons, each one of them managing to obliterate one of the grimm.

Four left, which should take her two more volleys. The six swords used for the first volley get taken to the back to cool down, while the other six swords of Floating Array go to the front to fire the second volley.

At the moment Penny wants to fire her weapon the kid she's been protecting trips, stumbling into the redhead. Penny stumbles a bit as well, causing her aim to be completely off as the lasers are fired.

The lasers veer off course, hitting the rainwater downpipe of a nearby building. The hit causes the pipe to go loose, causing it to topple over along with some of the brick from the building attached to it. It falls just right to land on the four remaining sabyrs at the same time, killing all of them together.

…

"Eh?" Everyone looks dumbstruck at what just happened. Ruby pinches herself, just to make sure that she isn't dreaming. "Did… Did that just happen?"

Penny can't believe it either: "That was… statistically unlikely."

"Nah, I just think you kids got lucky." Nobody recognizes this voice, causing everyone to look around. Standing there next to the civilians is a man nobody recognizes:

A man of above-average height with short brown hair, dressed in a sleeveless uniform. It's not exactly Atlas military wear, but the white-blue-reds of the uniform do seem somewhat familiar.

"A specialist?" Penny remarks, recognizing the type of outfit of this man. At this Ruby somewhat understands what kind of man this is, realizing that means he holds the same rank as Weiss' sister. If someone of such importance came down to Mantle, then according to Ruby there's only one reason why he's doing so.

"Are you here to stop the grimm invasion as well?"

The man introduces himself as Clover Ebi and confirms that he's been summoned from Atlas to stop the grimm invasion but needs to clarify that that has mostly been nipped in the bud. "At the moment the breach has been filled, and most sectors of Mantle have been confirmed to be grimm-free." He takes out his scroll, taking out a map of Mantle and tapping the sector they're currently in to confirm its lack of grimm. "Now it's just making sure to hunt any stray grimm and ensure that there are no lawbreakers trying to use this temporary chaos."

"Lawbreakers?" Ruby asks in confusion, not understanding what he means.

"Oh, you know: Looters, people extorting others for protection, and of course civilians utilizing unauthorized weapons."

Ruby's eyes shine bright as she hears the kind of crimes this specialist is trying to prevent. Immediately she dashes over to Clover, offering to help him catch these dastardly criminals!

Everyone looks at Ruby, not sure if she's just acting or really this oblivious. Unlike Penny, who does understand what Clover is talking about: "Friend Ruby, I believe he is talking about us."

It takes a second or two before Penny's words click for Ruby, as she's shocked with what she just discovered. "We're the lawbreakers?"

Clover nods at that, pointing out what they did wrong. "Only huntsmen are allowed to wield weapons down in Mantle, and I doubt that you kids are licensed huntsmen."

That's true, Ruby admits, but they're close! "We are all registered as huntsmen-in-training at Atlas, though!"

Clover doesn't miss a beat, immediately asking what year they are. Upon hearing that the four students here are all first years he further explains why the students are still in violation of the law: "First and second-year students of Atlas only count as non-civilians when guided by a registered huntsman with at least three years of experience." He lets out a sigh, not wanting to have this conversation. "Look, just follow me back to Atlas. I doubt that Ironwood will punish your team harshly, considering you wielded your weapons in the defense of others."

Laura wants to point out that she can't be arrested for using unauthorized weapons due to only using her in-born claws, but Ruby interrupts about the unfairness of these rules: "And then what? How were we supposed to defend ourselves from the grimm if we weren't allowed to use weapons? Those people there would have died if we didn't interfere!"

Ruby goes on a whole tirade about how these rules are wrong, and how they should be changed for the good of everyone. Though she has been for quite a while in the kingdom of Atlas, most of that time she spent up there in the academy. Down here in Mantle here ideologies and values clash with those of the kingdom itself, and the differences between Patch and Mantle are clear as day.

Clover should've expected something like this. As good as his luck is, dealing with women always brings some sort of trouble. Whether it's Harriet, Elm, that upstart politician or this girl here, there's always something going wrong. "In that case, I'm sorry in advance."

Before Ruby can understand what that means a bola come flying from the shadows. It wraps itself around the young huntress, restricting her arms and causing her to fall to the ground.

"Wha-?"

She's not the only one. Robin, Laura and Penny get captured as well with the same kind of weapon. All four are down on the ground, but they react slightly different. While the members of Scorpio try to resist and escape out of these binds, the members of Regal don't resist and accept their capture. Strange, is there something they know that the other two don't?

*BZZT*

A sudden jolt of lightning is the answer to this question. In response to the attempted escape of Ruby the bola shocks her with some high voltage. The more she tries to escape, the stronger the electric current running through her veins becomes.

Ruby can feel her muscles spasming from this electric bola. The pain is bearable, but without control over her muscles she is unable to offer further resistance.

Ruby can feel her muscles going weak and thus accepts being captured. Penny on the other hand looks to be downright horror-struck by the same thing happening to her. In a panic she tries to get the bola off her body, no matter what. You can hear the scraping of metal resonate off the bola as Penny powers through the wire, using her arms to push the string over her head. Even Clover looks surprised that there is a human who can withstand the power of lightning itself.

Well, human? Clover lets out a gasp, and so do most of the other people at the scene. What just happened to Penny is unbelievable:

The metal part of the bola did not merely scrape Penny's skin. It, well, skinned her. In a straight line from her chin to just above her left eyebrow all the skin is gone: Half the lip, part of the left cheek, a small piece of the left nostril… all of it is gone, showing a metallic layer underneath. The left eye is also gone: Eyelid, iris, pupil and sclera; All of them have been replaced with a single green lens that shines in the same color.

"…Penny?"

Penny sees the questioning looks of her friends and brings a hand to her face, directly feeling the coldness of metal instead of her synthetic skin. Her remaining human eye goes wide, and the light from the robotic eye burns slightly brighter.

Penny is now panicking with the reveal of this revelation. She tries to think of some sort of excuse, something to explain what happened to her face. "I-Ehm… You see, I… Well…" Penny doesn't have words for this disaster, and does the only thing she is knows how to do in such a situation:

Run.

Ruby has no other choice but to look from down on the ground as her friend gets away, leaving so many questions behind.

"Penny…"

* * *

Vibrant's daily life has mostly returned to normal after a time of luxury. Sure, there's some changes: Bumblebee is more specced than it has ever been, a small fridge holds all the snacks and drinks four teenage girls would need and their room has enough books to fill a small library. Despite all that life at Beacon goes on, everything soon falling into its natural rhythm. So too now, as they're ready to go to bed after a busy school day preparing for the upcoming exams.

Yang is in the bathroom, brushing her teeth after a relaxing shower. Tomorrow is a Saturday, so Yang does her best to ensure that she's fit for a day of… learning.

Sigh, why do exams have to exist? It must be some form of evil manipulation adults like Ozpin use to keep the youngsters in check!

Yang steps out of the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas and her hair wrapped in a towel. "Blake, it's your turn."

"Finally." The raven-haired girl steps into the bathroom, preparing herself for a good rest's sleep. The other two members are lying down on their own beds, each busy reading some book. Ilia is preparing herself for the grimm studies test of next week, while Vernal is skimming through some of Blake's smut.

Yang drops on her own bed, ready to sleep. Just as she is dozing off the sound of a ringing scroll prevents her from sleeping. Ugh, who thinks it's a good idea to call this late? Within a second she finds the cause of the sound, locating Blake's scroll on her nightstand. Due to the way the beds are organized Yang has the easiest time reaching over, grabbing the scroll to see who is calling. Yang looks at the screen, which shows a number Yang doesn't recognize ask for a voice-only call. At least it's not an anonymous number, so Yang sees no problem with picking up the call:

"H-"

"Blake, it's time." A deep male voice interrupts Yang before she can say anything. Yang, trying to be polite, responds that his target's not available:

"Sorry, but Blake's out for a few minutes. If you want, I can tell her to call back later."

"I see…" The voice on the other end says disappointedly. "Looks like I'll have to do this the har-"

"Oh, hang on, here she is."

Yang sees Blake exiting the bathroom, dressed in the black kimono she uses as sleeping wear. Well, that was easy. Yang walks up to Blake and hands her the scroll, telling her that there's some guy trying to speak to her. Blake picks up the scroll, asking who is contacting her.

"Hello, my darling." The male voice comes out loud enough that the rest of the room can hear it. It appears that in transferring the scroll Yang accidentally activated the loudspeaker function.

The rest of the room is stunned, each reacting differently to those words. Blake is embarrassed that the rest of her team got to hear those words; Ilia is shocked as she hears who Blake is talking to; Vernal eyes Blake curiously, and Yang? Well…

"Blake, you have a boyfriend?" Yang says with wide grin on her face. Though Yang's surprised that Blake of all people would be the first to get herself a guy she is happy that her friend found love. She does want to hear all the juicy details, though.

The voice from the phone seems more than happy to oblige with Yang's question: "Only the best one for my Blake."

"Adam!" Blake hisses, trying to shut her boyfriend up. It doesn't work, as Adam lets out a chuckle at Blake's reaction.

"Come now, Blake." He says in a happy tone, "I was only offering to take my girlfriend out on a date tomorrow. Ten o'clock, the usual place."

Yang can see a small flush on Blake's cheeks as Adam offers the date. Yep, there's clearly a romance here. And what kind of team leader would Yang be if she didn't try to help her teammate succeed in love? Quickly she swings an arm over Blake's shoulder, telling her all about how lucky she is with such a boyfriend and that she should take him up on the date. This only causes the raven-haired girl to blush, only able to stammer out some nonsensical words in return.

There is still someone in the room who is opposed to this date. Ilia walks up to Blake and her phone, filing her complaint about this date: "Si-Adam, we've got a test next Tuesday. You should know how important it is for us to get high enough grades to stay in the academy."

"Ilia?" Adam asks in surprise. He didn't expect that Ilia of all people would speak against him. "Don't worry about it." He responds with a bit of pride and a bit of annoyance. "I'll make sure that Blake is kept up to date."

Yang lets out a snort at that pun while Ilia rolls her eyes. She won't further her attempt to get Adam to back off, so she just politely backs off from this conversation.

"Well then, my darling, I'll see you tomorrow. I can't wait." With that Adam hangs up the phone, leaving the four girls alone to discuss this sudden development.

Yang, who still has her arm wrapped around her teammate, can't help but feel happy for Blake: "So Blake has a lover! Well, that sounds like something we need to celebrate!"

Blake only lets out a sigh as she unwraps herself out of Yang's hug. "Quit it, Yang. It's just a date."

"Aww, what's the holdup?" Yang asks slightly mockingly. "Why shouldn't we be celebrating that one of our team is smooching it up with her boyfrie-hmph!"

Yang is unable to finish her teasing. She gets a pillow thrown in her face, courtesy of the girl that's smooching it up with her boyfriend.

"Heh." Yang lets out a small laugh at that. "No need to be embarrassed, Blake. We're just here to congratulate you on finding lov-hmph"

Yang gets another pillow in the face, but this time it's by courtesy of her own partner. Now the leader of Vibrant is glaring daggers at Vernal, who is looking a bit too smug for Yang's taste.

"What, this isn't a pillow fight?" Vernal asks in mock ignorance as she points a finger at Blake. "I mean, she started it."

"Oh, that's it!" Yang shouts out excitedly, armed with pillows and ready to smash them into her partner. "If you want a pillow fight, then it's on!"

Vernal grabs another pillow, arming herself for the upcoming conflict. "Now don't go crying when you lose, Yang."

"I can say the same to you, Vernal!"

With those words the two pillow fighters charge each other, hitting each other with their feather-filled weapons. Ilia and Blake look on from the sidelines, seeing how their teammates are making a ruckus. With a sigh they turn to another, glad to have each other to weather through their teammate's stupidity. At least it cannot get any wors-

*SLAM*

The door of team VYBA gets kicked open, where a pajama-wearing Nora is standing with pillow in hand, a grin on her face.

"Did someone say pillow fight? Because we're going to show you how the professionals do it!"

From behind Nora steps out Ren, also in his night outfit and wielding a pillow. He looks a bit tired, a yawn escaping him as he goes into fighting position. "I shall bring honor to the great name of pillow fights."

Yang and Vernal look at one another, realizing that they've got a common enemy. Together they charge at the new enemies, who charge at the VY pair in return. Blake and Ilia keep on watching from the sidelines, the former burying her face in her hands from annoyance.

"It's going to be a long night."

"I'm afraid so."

This is not an environment to sleep in for the BA pair. With no other options they seek to flee before the situation gets too far out of hand. When the coast is clear they flee through the door, going to the only friendly place they know of that should be free of all this nonsense.

The duo knocks on the door of dorm room JNPR, where they are greeted by Jaune in his blue bunny onesie. It looks just as dumb as during initiation, but it's much easier to bear with than the pillow business going on in their room.

"Hey guys," Jaune greets amicably, "What brings you here so late?"

"Part of your team is causing a ruckus in our room." Ilia explains, taking a moment of silence so that Jaune can hear it as well. It's loud enough that Jaune can hear Nora shouting something about being 'Queen of the castle'. "Can we stay here for tonight?"

Jaune doesn't need to think twice. "Oh, of course! I mean, it's not like we were planning anything with the two of us. I was planning to go to sleep, and Pyrrha's still a bit hungry. She wants to eat some rabbit meat, but I don't think the cafeteria is still open. Anyway, come in!"

Jaune lets the two girls in, explaining to Pyrrha that Ilia and Blake will be staying the night in Ren and Nora's place. Jaune's teammate looks annoyed and sad for a second, before that ever-present smile returns on her face. Ouch, it's clear to the two girls what they just ruined. Blake promises herself that she'll make this up to Pyrrha one day.

"So…" Jaune asks, still clueless both about his partner as about the rest of his teammates, "What exactly are Nora and Ren doing there in your room?"

Ilia and Blake explain about the pillow fight occurring between Yang and Vernal, and how Nora interrupted the battle with Ren dragged along. At the mention of Ren's name Jaune starts to shiver. Ilia and Blake don't get it, what is the problem with Ren? They ask Jaune why it's Ren that is scary, rather than Nora the pillow-fighting monster.

"You don't get it! Ren is the pillow-fighting monster!" Jaune shouts out, his voice loud and angry. Realizing how he burst out against his friends he quiets down, staring ahead into nothingness. "I lost my innocence that day…"

Pyrrha puts a hand around her partner, assuaging his fears and telling him that it's all okay. "There there, Jaune, pillow-fighting Ren isn't real. He can't hurt you."

At that moment the four of them can hear Ren shout "Ow, my toe!" from across the hallway, causing Jaune to wince again. Ilia and Blake look at the fear-filled team leader, and honestly are done with all of this. Blake sees only one solution for this all:

"Shall we just go to bed?"

The response of the other people in the room is all the same: "Oh, yes please."

After a night of surprisingly good sleep Blake and Ilia rise early. Upon awakening they see that the two members of Juniper are still sleeping. Quietly they leave the dorm room, returning to their own. At the same moment they exit the JNPR dorm another duo is exiting the VYBA dorm: Ren is carrying a still snoring Nora on his back, giving a small nod to the two girls. Ilia and Blake return the nod and enter their room.

Upon seeing the results of the pillow fight Blake needs all her willpower not to scream in agony. The entire room is a mess! The four beds have somehow been heaped together in a somewhat castle-shaped structure, with Yang and Vernal leaning against this heap of beds. When she looks at the single broken bookshelf Blake can't hold it in anymore:

"Nooo!" Blake shrieks loud enough to wake the rest of her team, rushing over to the books. Her precious reading material, all strewn about and disheveled. Oh no, even My Sweet Samurai is in this sorry state! That poor book, it is like her fifth favorite of all the books here!

In angry stomps she walks up to the drowsy pair that slept here, angrily grabbing them both by the collars of their pajamas. "You two. Explain."

Yang and Vernal look around, seeing the mess they made with their pillow fight as well as the angry girl grabbing their shirts. Yang lets out an awkward chuckle, more out of fear then out of joy. It's the angriest either of them has ever seen Blake, which is rather scary.

"Fix it." Blake says, no, commands, "Now!"

Both now wide awake don't dare to disobey their raven-haired teammate. They quickly get started with fixing the room, while Blake takes her clothes and prepares for her date.

Forty minutes later she leaves the bathroom, dressed in the clothes she brought a month ago: She cut off the sleeves and bottom of her black turtleneck, turning them into wrappings around her forearms and a ribbon for on her head. Combined with her black denim miniskirt, knee-high stockings and black mules she's dressed to impress. Gambol Shroud is left in her school locker, so Blake is ready to have a lovely day with her date.

Upon her return Blake sees Yang and Vernal sitting on their beds. They're once more properly located where they're supposed to be, just like the rest of the room.

"So…" Yang asks nervously, "Everything okay now?"

Blake lets out a sigh and points out that she isn't angry at her teammates anymore. "Just don't do it again, okay?" Yang and Vernal agree, so Blake is ready to leave for her date.

Fifteen minutes after Blake left Yang wants to leave for the city as well, dressed casually and with her helmet and aviator shades in hand. Before she can leave her partner would like to speak with her, having estimated Yang's plans:

"Really now? I didn't think our glorious leader would sneak out to take control of Blake's love life. Who are you to decide who Blake can and cannot love?"

Yang doesn't deny the accusation, though Vernal is not entirely correct: "Eh, I mostly want to make sure her date isn't some jerk. You know the saying, sisters before misters."

"Oh my, Yang," Vernal answers in mock surprise, "I didn't know you were interested in such incestuous relationships. We may not be blood-related, but I can't start a relationship with you. I'm so sorry."

Yang rolls her eyes, being somewhat used to Vernal's jabs by now. She should've seen this coming the moment she used the saying "sisters before misters".

Vernal is not done with making fun of her partner, as her jabs continue:

"Or perhaps I'm not the right little sister. I do recall you having another one, perhaps she's the one you're in l-ghk!"

Yang has grabbed her partner by the neck before she can finish that sentence, slamming her against the wall.

"Make fun of me all you want," Yang says as her eyes blaze red, "But don't bring Ruby into this!"

Vernal tries to breathe but she finds herself a bit choked. Instead she taps Yang on the arm, signaling that she gives up. No need to asphyxiate here for a pointless reason. Yang realizes that she's about to harm her partner and drops her grip on Vernal. Her eyes are still red, a sign of her anger, but she does let Vernal sit against the wall in peace.

"*cough cough* sure, sure…" Vernal lets out in a strained voice, catching her breath from being suddenly slammed into the wall, "I will focus my attention on annoying you, and just you. But seriously though, don't you have anything better to do than stalking Blake?"

Yang calms down, eyes turning to lilac as she contemplates all options: "Well, it's either that or studying for Port's test next Tuesday. Your choice."

At hearing the activities for today Vernal throws her hands up in the air, accepting the choice that's not going to be a borefest for several hours. "You got me, stalking Blake it is. Where's your other helmet?"

With a chuckle Yang throws her spare helmet at Vernal. As she does so she sees the spare for her spare, and immediately realizes that it would be more fun if they went as a trio.

They quickly find Ilia, who is waiting outside team Juniper's door with the study material for Port's upcoming test. Yang proposes her idea to her teammate, telling her they want to investigate Blake's boyfriend.

Ilia's face convulses at the thought, and her answer is given immediately: "Of course, why wouldn't I want to see Blake have the time of her life together with her boyfriend?" She responds sarcastically, "Let's all have fun seeing how 'wonderful', 'righteous' and 'passionate' Adam is. It will be fantastic!"

Okay, Yang understands enough from those words that Ilia is not interested. Heck, her skin even turns somewhat greenish and pale from talking about Adam. It's like she's allergic to him!

But that is not the only reason Ilia declines: "Besides, aren't we supposed to be studying for the upcoming test together with team Juniper?"

"Yeah, about that…" Yang nervously replies with an uneasy grin, "I've, we've, ehm…K-Bye!"

Yang gives a quick wave of goodbye, and sprints away from her teammate as fast as she can. Vernal shrugs at her partner's behavior, leisurely walking after Vibrant's leader. Upon seeing VY's retreat Ilia can only sigh, before entering Juniper's room for the test. She's got better things to do.

After a single trip by motorcycle the duo arrive in downtown Vale, where they're ready to stalk their teammate.

"I assume you have a plan, Yang?" Vernal asks her partner. "Last I checked you barely passed your grimm tracking test."

"Then it's a good thing that we're tracking a human." Yang pulls out her scroll, opening one of the apps on it. "I mean, I used a bit of the money we stole off Torchwick to install tracking apps on our scrolls. Finding Blake will be a piece of cake with these!"

Yang activate the tracking app and realizes that it might literally be a piece of cake. Blake is currently not moving an inch from her location inside tea house and patisserie "The Mad Hatter". This is apparently the usual place for her dates.

As it's only two hundred meters away from their current location the stalking duo easily finds the shop. They enter the patisserie where Blake is currently going through the menu. She is not alone, as on the other end of the table sits an unfamiliar guy, this "Adam" that was on the phone yesterday. This gives Yang and Vernal a good look at Blake's boyfriend:

"Why hello mister tall, dark and handsome." Yang can't help but admit that Blake appears to have a good taste in men: A tall, auburn-haired man, sharply dressed in a nice suit. He has an air of cool mystery around him, helped by the deep-shaded sunglasses on he's wearing. Even Vernal is impressed with Blake's date:

"I can't say that I'm surprised, but he looks pretty much how I expected him to be."

"Hm?" Yang looks at her partner, wondering why she thinks all that. Vernal gives her a stare of disbelieve, hoping that Yang will eventually guess it by herself. After a few seconds pass Vernal signs in annoyance, explaining why she knows:

"Ever seen her smutty books? "Ninjas of Love", "My Sweet Samurai", "The Boy Who Fell from the Sky", "Slave to the Sword"? They're all pretty much the same: Broody girl meets broody boy; they fall in love and go through many trials and tribulations together before making out. Blake's entire fetish is dark and edgy."

"Ah." That does explain a few things about this couple. On the other hand, there's something odd about what Vernal just said: "Wait, does that mean you read Blake's smut too?"

"Just skimming through. What's wrong with taking an interest in the hobbies of your teammates?"

Yang throws a shoulder around her partner, grinning mischievously. "Oh, nothing. I just wasn't aware that my partner is a pervert."

"Wha-I-You!" Vernal's cheeks turn bright red, embarrassed by Yang's accusation. There's no possibility to make a comeback. Vernal has already seen the grin on Yang's face, realizing that she just lost their game by showing her own shame. "Just… Just grab a seat, smartass."

With a snicker Yang does as her partner says, taking at seat at a table in one of the corners of the teahouse. They're far enough away that Blake can't recognize them easily, but close enough that they can check out her boyfriend.

Vernal is still quite impressed with Blake's catch: "While I agree that Blake does have some good taste in men," Yang can agree with that, at least on Adam's appearance. He does look quite cool. "I am a bit worried considering his… race."

Vernal gestures to the two black horns sticking out of Adam's bright red hair, indicating him to be a faunus. Considered by some a lesser race, and there are several social circles amongst both races who would rather not see a human-faunus union. It does explain why Blake is always so pro-faunus, though.

Yang just shrugs at that problem. "Faunus, human; I don't think there's really any difference." As she says that the perfect one-liner comes up in the blonde's mind: "Though I do think that Blake shouldn't follow his boyfriend to any back alleys, he looks pretty horny."

Eh? Eh? Yang wants to see the reaction of her partner, and mockingly laughs as she sees Vernal fail to suppress a small smile. Vernal blushes a bit, charisma breaking as she knows she showed enjoyment to one of Yang's puns of all things.

"Shut it, Yang. Didn't you want to learn more about Blake's boy toy there?" Vernal secretly points to the duo, who are engaged in conversation. Though the tea house is half full, they can follow the lover's conversation if the pair stays quiet and focus:

Yang and Vernal start listening in somewhere during the middle of the story, where the two lovebirds are talking about some of Adam's business-related stuff:

"I've heard that things in Mistral are going well." Blake takes a sip from her tea before continuing speaking. "Recruitment is at an all-time high after Tick managed to slay that leviathan."

Adam scoffs at the mention of Tick. "A temporary boost at best. That wannabe pirate may have been able to beat a leviathan by himself, he's too stupid to keep the new recruits under his wing for long."

Blake looks a bit appalled that her boyfriend is so dismissive about Tick. "What's your problem with him? He's done so much good for us, now an icon for the organization. He's so popular right now, he's even taken the number one spot on the girl's 'Guys we want to date' lis-."

Adam lets out a low grumble at the mention of that last thing. Right, the top spot on that list used to be his spot, something that he did like to brag about how there was no better couple than the most popular boy and the most popular girl. Blake finally realizes where that dislike for his ally comes from:

"Adam, are you jealous?" Blake smirks a bit as she sees Adam get flustered by her observation. He quickly recovers, a smirk of his own on his face as he counters that argument:

"Come now, Blake. Why would I be jealous of someone who can only take down a mere leviathan? Don't you remember how I took down that Goliath herd with you? That requires way more skill than what that fake pirate did."

"With skill you mean 'crash a burning Manta airship half-filled with dust in the middle of the herd'?"

A small moment of silence follows, in which Adam takes a sip from his tea. "Hey, as long as it works."

Blake lets out a small chuckle at Adam's words. "Never change, Adam."

"Why not?" Adam says with a smile. "Look at how much better I got compared to when we first met. Just like a fine wine, I only improve with age. Furthermore, my love for you will only grow greater and greater, my darling."

Blake doesn't share Adam's opinion. A tinge of fear is audible in her voice, as she remembers things she would rather forget. "But the higher you go, the more you forget about the people down on the ground. Are you forgetting what you have sacrificed to get here?"

"It's true, Blake." Adam lost his smile, but his tone is still somewhat jovial. "We may have made sacrifices. Trust me, we will see that it was all worth it when we gaze upon the conclusion of our work."

Adam caresses Blake's cheek, but Blake pushes his hand off. This does not go unnoticed by Adam, who is not happy that his girlfriend is so reluctant of his touch.

"What's wrong, Blake?" He asks in a concerning tone. "Are you afraid of me? It pains me to see you looking this hurt."

"Adam, I never said that. I'm not afraid of you. If I were, I would've ran away the moment we met." As she says this Blake grips Adam's hand, holding it tightly. "I am the only one who knows what lies hidden behind those glasses. So long as I know that, I will never be afraid of you."

"Yes, that's true. It's proof of the bond between you and me." Adam gives Blake a warm smile back, placing his free hand on top of Blake's. "Thank you, Blake. It's good to know I still got you."

The duo finishes their tea, and after paying they leave. Yang and Vernal do the same, continuing to tail them. After a few streets the duo seek to take a shortcut through an alleyway, so Yang and Vernal follow suit.

Yang and Vernal stop at the front of the alleyway, as it doesn't offer much place to hide. With a width of five yards it's rather wide. However, being completely straight with barely any pieces of cover doesn't allow the duo to advance. There's nary a soul in the alley, the only people other than Blake and Adam being a group of four thuggish-looking guys. Or to be precise, former huntsmen fallen on hard times if their clothes and weapons are any indication. Two short, somewhat chubby guys who look like twins wield a club-like weapon each, while the third is a tall and lanky guy wielding a pair of daggers.

All three are dressed in rather shabby-looking clothes, unlike their leader: A man as tall as Adam with black and white hair, wearing a fur vest in the same colors. A pipe is in his mouth, and at his side hangs a rapier. With confidence he walks up to Blake, stepping way too far in her comfort zone as he pressures her against the wall.

"The name's Ville D'elcru." Green smoke from the cigar leaves from his mouth, making Blake cough as she inhales a bit of those putrid fumes. "And I can give you a hundred and one reasons why a cute girl like you shouldn't be committing bestiality with a faunus like him. Trust me, y-"

Ville cannot say more as he gets decked in the face by Adam, sending him flying into his teammates. The angry faunus looks at the thugs with disdain, ready to kill them if necessary.

"Then let me give you a thousand and one reasons why human filth like you needs to learn its place." Though neither Adam nor Blake is equipped for combat, they don't look to be backing down.

The four thugs aren't backing down either. The team leader is helped up by his mates, glaring daggers at that faunus who dared to stand up at him. That is an offense that deserves punishment!

"Alright, that's it. Jasper, Horace, Saul. Get 'm."

Ville's goons charge at the duo, planning to either bash in some brains or stab a bull many, many times.

Adam reads the situation, trying to find the best solution to take care of this scum. On the downside, Wilt and Blush are left home. Unable to use his semblance nor his usual weapon style does put him at a disadvantage.

Then again, this scum is of such poor quality that staining Wilt's blade would be a disgrace.

Adam notices a plastic bag on the ground near his feet and kicks it into the closest goon's face. Said goon was originally planning to clobber the faunus guy with his club but must now settle for removing this visual obstruction from his face. He uses his free hand to remove the bag, leaving him wide open for a counter. He has just enough time to notice Adam's fist approaching his face before being knocked out cold.

"Horace!" The other chubby guy looks distraught that his brother was taken down so easily. He swings his club at Adam, who dodges to the side. Saul doesn't give up and continues to launch a barrage of swings at the faunus.

Adam dodges the swings with ease, not a single blow coming close to damaging him. These attacks are sad, really. He can see that there's some power behind the blow, good enough that its swings can destroy most of the younger grimm in a single shot. The downside is the utter lack of speed in these blows, and even a novice huntsmen-in-training could dodge attacks like these. Adam would pity this guy were he not a faunus hater.

From the distance Yang and Vernal are watching the combat spectacle. Yang wanted to help immediately, but Vernal stops her. This is, as Vernal quotes, "The time for the boyfriend to show off". Only when the couple are in danger should Yang and Vernal come to the lovers' rescue. Seeing some grain of truth in that statement Yang quietly waits, continuing to watch this combat spectacle:

Jasper, the tall and lanky guy with twin daggers, leaves Saul to deal with the faunus as he dashes past them. Instead he plans on taking the faunus' girlfriend hostage. It may be a dirty tactic, but if it can prevent that faunus from fighting it's a good tactic.

The girl looks shocked and doesn't offer any resistance as he grabs her by the shoulder. One of his daggers is aimed straight at her neck, turning her into a perfect hostage. Jasper lets out a smile as he realizes his dirty plan works. "Okay girlie, you're goin-hm?"

Weird. The hand that grasped the girl now goes through her, just like the dagger. Her entire body goes up in smoke, like she was nothing but an ephemeral dream. "What the-ghk!" Jasper doesn't have the time to comprehend as he gets a kicked in the face by a jumping Blake, her shadow trick successfully catching the lanky guy by surprise.

Jasper staggers back, bumping against an annoyed-looking Adam. The bump pushes the faunus out of the path of Saul's club, and Jasper straight into it!

*Clunk*

Saul winces as he just bashed in his partner's skull, causing Jasper to fall to the ground. He reaches over to his friend, wanting to check out how he is doing. "Jasper! You okay?"

Jasper only lets out a groan, but that isn't what Saul should be focusing on. Now that he's distracted Adam performs a low kick, swiping the crony off his feet. Before Saul lands on the ground Adam uppercuts him in the stomach, sending him a few feet flying into the sky. Adam jumps after him, and at the apex of the flight Adam performs an axe kick to send Saul crashing into the ground.

Thus far the leader of these harassers has been standing on the sidelines, expecting his teammates to take care of this dirty business. Instead he finds his team shriveling on the ground as the faunus continues to stand proud. "Damn it." Ville says calmly as he takes his pipe out of his mouth. "Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way."

"Hmph," Adam replies with a scoff, "human filth like you doesn't even know what a hard time is."

Ville doesn't respond to Adam's provocation, but the sound of wood splintering can be heard all through the alley as he snaps his pipe in two. Wordlessly he draws his rapier before lunging at Adam.

Adam sidesteps the lunge, but Ville has enough control over his movements to switch his attack to regular stabs. The tip of the rapier continues to seek Adam's blood, each strike aimed at a different location to keep the faunus on his toes.

Heart, face, legs, neck, stomach, lung; In skill it's much better than what his three underlings are capable of. Adam notices as well, having trouble to keep himself unharmed. It would be a whole other matter if he had access to Wilt and Blush, but this might be a challenge!

Ville swipes his rapier horizontally, and Adam isn't fast enough to dodge. At seeing that he got the first hit on the faunus Ville smirks, continuing his attacks. A second horizontal slash further drops Adam's aura, before a low sweep of the rapier sends the redhead tumbling backwards.

To protect her boyfriend Blake steps in to fight, buying time for Adam to recover. Ville lets out a sigh, unhappy with this development. He hoped to rescue this poor girl from that horrible faunus. He wanted to teach her that there are better lovers for her then this red-headed prick. But no, of course she got to be a faunus sympathizer. Now he needs to teach her a lesson as well!

The strikes of Ville's rapier are quick, but Blake is quicker. Each hit gets dodged, and those that she cannot dodge only manage to hit her afterimages. Ville gets enraged by his lack of success, increasing the speed of his flurry. It doesn't help, as Blake still manages to evade everything.

Shadow; in Blake's opinion it is the perfect semblance for this situation. Though Blake doesn't like how it is essentially a manifestation of her urge to run away from her problems, it does give her an edge that Adam doesn't possess. He may outclass her in offense, defense and skill, Blake is much better at evading attacks than he is!

Angered with his lack of results Ville puts it all in a final lunge, faster and stronger than those before. Blake looks at it amusedly as her semblance lets her dodge this attack as well. This time however Ville overreached, and Blake can counter with a kick to the ruffian's gut. Ville stumbles back, clutching where he's just been stuck. He's out for a few seconds, and that should give Adam enough time to recover!

A sudden pair of arms around her chest surprises Blake. "Adam?" While she can appreciate the gesture, this isn't the time for hugs. There are still enemies out here, and now is the time to t-hang on, these arms feel way too tight and hurtful to be Adam's!

"Boss! I got her!"

Yeah, that voice confirms it. The one holding her isn't Adam at all! Looking up she sees that she's held by the tall and lanky ruffian, who has recovered from being hit in the face with a club.

Ville sees this as well, and smirks now that the slippery girl won't be able to slip away now. Quickly he lunges at the huntress-in-training, tip of his rapier aimed for Blake's heart. He's done with trying to play nice, so now he's just trying to rid the world of faunus and their sympathizers!

Blake sees the attack coming and struggles to break free. As amazing as her semblance is at evading attacks, it only works if she has the space to dodge. With this goon gripping her tightly she is unable to get away from this attack!

Blake needs to escape from this inopportune situation, fast! She steps on the goon's toes, elbows him in the gut, headbutts him in the chin; It all deals damage, but none of it is painful enough for him to stagger and loosen his hold on the huntress. Ville comes in close, and the only thing Blake can do is brace for impact!

…

Just before he strikes Blake a piece of ammunition slams into Ville's stomach. It explodes on contact, sending him flying back. The mook who was holding Blake starts to spasm as four rods of lightning dust are slammed into his back, causing him to lose his grip on Blake as he drops to the ground.

Blake turns around, seeing two of his teammates standing there with their weapons deployed. A sense of relief washes over Blake as she sees her teammates. "Took you long enough."

"Oh… yeah. Uhm, Blake?" Yang replies awkwardly. Blake shoots a curious look at her teammates, who don't look her in the eye. Instead their gaze is slightly upwards, they gaze going to the top of her head. Yang doesn't seem to find the words for what she wants to say, so she mimes a pair of bunny ears with her hands.

Blake doesn't understand what Yang is doing, and Vernal is only facepalming at Yang's awkward messaging methods. What are they trying to say to he-?

"L-Look boss," one of those chubby guys shouts, both having retreated from this battle to the exit of the alley. "she's a beast too!"

This gets Blake's attention, now grabbing the top of her head. Instead of feeling the smoothness of a ribbon she feels the fur from her ears. No! Nonono, it can't be!

Blake looks at the ground, where she sees Jasper holding a very familiar black piece of cloth.

Blake looks aghast as she realizes her secret is out. They know. Her teammates now know that she too is a faunus!

Meanwhile Ville and the two chubby guys have retreated, realizing that there's nothing to gain from staying and fighting against these foes. They've left the alley, leaving their tall and lanky comrade to the animals. Ville needs to get one last word in before he flees far, far away: "Damn you filthy animals! You freaks can rot together for all I care!"

Adam only gets more ticked off by this scum and runs after them. Well, only for two steps. He stops as he sees Blake looking mortified.

"Blake…" with concern he looks at his girlfriend, reaching out to comfort Blake. His hand reaches for the back of Blake's head, as he pulls her in for a hug. It seems to calm Blake for a moment, at least until she notices her teammates running up with probably a lot of questions for her.

Adam suddenly feels like he pushed through Blake's head, and looking down he sees the afterimage of Blake's semblance disappearing. With some fear she takes a step back, and then another one. Unable to look any of them in the eyes Blake has only two words for her friends and lover:

"I… I'm sorry."

With those words Blake runs away.

Adam is shocked for a second, unable to believe what is happening. It is only when he sees the two teammates of Blake run out in front of him that he regains his composure and follows the two girls.

The three of them exit the alley at the same time and look around them: There are enough people visible, but none of them is the raven-haired faunus they care about. Vernal can see the other two looking quite disheartened, each of them having the same wistful reaction to these developments:

"Blake…"

* * *

 **I've heard your pleas, readers. You've asked for romance, and thus I shall give it! Behold, the beautiful romance between Blake and Adam! Two people rising from shadows, who seek to bring justice to an unfair world!**

… **What do you mean, that's not the romance you wanted?**

 **Yes, I know the pair has bad chemistry. Blake is in love with who Adam was, while Adam is in love with whom Blake can become. But because the lynchpin of this story exists, these two didn't break up yet. Blake and Adam never did the train heist, so they didn't have the talk from before the train heist. As a result Blake still sees Adam as the boy who cried for losing his friends to Faunus slavers (see DC comics RWBY volume 4). At least for a little longer Tauradonna is canon in the fic.**

 **Now, for the question I recieved:**

 **Aliestrikehero:** _ **Are the teachers for SERE Kokonoe and Tager from Blazblue? Are we going to see Noel as well?  
**_ **Indeed, professor Katt-Grumm and Tiger Iron are expies of that duo. Though, technically Katt-Grumm is an expy of both Kokonoe and the Grumpy Cat meme. As for a Noel expy, perhaps a cameo of team Remix Heart as one of the Vytal festival teams.**


	12. Chapter 2-3

**Author's Note: With the conclusion of RWBY volume 7 we can conclude that I made several inaccurate predictions about the continent of Solitas. As my writing style is ACTCAP (As Close To Canon As Possible), I would prefer it if I can completely utilize the worldbuilding of the official canon story by Roosterteeth. In other words, I've partially rewritten the story to be more in line with canon.**

 **Because I don't want to force people to reread A New World on her Shoulders here is a summary of how the story changed:**

 **-Chapter 1-Start: Ruby got lost inside Atlas academy instead of Atlas itself. She met Penny in the research facilities of Atlas Academy, where she also met Pietro.**

 **-Chapter 1-3, 1-4: Most of the battle in Atlas has been moved to Mantle, with some minor changes that don't have an impact on the story.**

 **-Chapter 1-5, 1-End: The dorm rooms have been adapted to fit with the canon Atlesian dorm rooms. They're also located on Academy grounds now.**

 **-Chapter 1-End: Professor Thumbelina Peach has her canon position of biology teacher instead of being the dust studies professor.**

 **-Chapter 2-2: Atlas floatation has been properly implemented. It now functions like canon where Atlas is up in the air all the time.**

* * *

The trip back to Atlas was mostly in silence. Laura, Robin and Ruby are being escorted to Ironwood's office, where the whole debacle around Penny will be discussed and further handled. The three students are led by Ebi, as well as this big buff lady who turned out to be the secret bola thrower. That woman, Elm Ederne to be precise, was the only one talking during the trip back, telling the rest all about how "This misunderstanding will be solved quickly!" and "that robot won't escape from the ace ops!".

It comes as no surprise that Ruby didn't feel like humoring this woman with a reply.

Silently they enter Atlas; Silently they enter the academy grounds; Silently they enter the central tower's lift and silently they exit it, entering the headmaster's office.

Inside of the office are more people than just general Ironwood. Unsurprisingly there's the rest of team Scorpio, Weiss and Ciel. Pietro, Penny's "father", is also a key person here. There are three more people in the room, all of them dressed in the same red, white and blues as Elm and Ebi.

One of the three, the only female of the unknown trio, lets out a sigh of relief. "About time you guys showed up." She looks at Ironwood, asking the big question: "So, can we finally know why you've gathered all of the ace ops here?"

"I agree." The next one to speak up is Weiss, who has also been impatiently waiting here for a dozen minutes. "I would like to know why my partner as well as two other classmates are currently bound, as well as why Penny isn't amongst them."

"All in due time, miss Schnee." Ironwood orders everyone to calm down and stay silent. He asks Ebi to remove the bindings of the three students, and then he gives a brief summary of the situation:

"It has come to my attention that four first-year students went down to Mantle unsupervised to help out with the grimm invasion. After a rendezvous with operatives Ederne and Clover three of the four were captured for resisting authorities. The problem lies with the fourth member of the group, Penny Polendina, who fled from capture after her true nature was discovered."

"True… nature, sir?" The second of the three other specialists, a tall and bald man who reminds Ruby of a monk, replies in confusion. "Are we talking about a faunus heritage?"

"No." Pietro sighs, before starting to explain the truth: "Penny Polendina, my daughter, is an android."

This causes large gasps of surprise amongst those who were not aware of Penny's robotic nature. Ruby's teammates are in a state of utter disbelief, as compared to the AK-130 Penny technological advantage is unmeasurable. It's not just realism and social interaction, but also in terms of power and ability is an android like Penny something that should be decades away from being a concept, let alone possible! Weiss calls Pietro out on the impossibility of such a thing, while Ciel looks on with a hint of annoyance in her face.

As Pietro tries to explain the creation of Penny to Weiss the ace ops each react in their own way: Clover and Elm, who have already given their opinions during the trip back are now silent, their surprise long gone. The monk-like one starts to mutter about the nature of aura and the soul, while the female one wants to see just what this human robot can do in battle. The last member stays quiet, the only one following Ironwood's orders.

It becomes a cacophony of sound, forcing the general to clear his throat and loudly call everyone to order: "Enough!" Ironwood's shout causes the silence to return to the room once more. He gives the order to Ebi to explain the current status of Penny Polendina, and what to look out for in the retrieval mission of the missing student. Ebi explains as ordered to:

"The electric bola we utilize for capturing people was forcibly removed by miss Polendina. In the process it scraped off the flesh from the left side of her face, revealing the iron skin underneath. Most likely she's hiding in a place with few people, or she is wearing face-concealing clothing."

"You fool!" The last member of the three other specialists calls up. A short, bald, wrinkled man, and the oldest of the people here by far. With old we mean really old, as in 'old enough to be Ironwood's grandfather' old. Even so his gait is still spry, as he walks up at Ebi while admonishing him. "Those tools are meant for capturing fleeing and resisting criminals, not to be used on our own students!"

"But they broke the law, old man!" Ebi protests back, though still with an air of servility to this man. "I was just following orders!"

"Don't give me that, you whippersnapper! Yes, you should follow orders, but that is pointless if you forget why those orders were made in the first place. If you keep on following orders to the letter instead of the spirit, then one day these orders of yours will stab you in the back!" The old man sighs, his anger calming a little as he explains why he is so harsh. "Look, Clover: I've lived a long life, and I don't think I'm going to last much longer. I need you to lead the ace ops in my place when that happens. You can't just rely on your luck and stay this rough around the edges when others will depend on you."

"Yeah, I get it, old man." Ebi tries to hide his discomfort and fear of the old man, but his feelings are still clear to everyone. Quickly he steers the conversation back to a direction he's more comfortable with: "Anyways, General Ironwood, if I may ask, why did Atlas hide the creation of miss Polendina?"

"You may." Ironwood answers, before explaining the penny project's history: "Ten years ago I challenged five of Atlas' greatest scientific minds to come up with a unique idea for bolstering our military defenses. Of the five there were two projects of great interest: One was Doctor Arthur Watts' 'King Program', which would've connected all of the kingdom's electronic devices with one another and allow the military to take them over in cases of crisis; The other was Doctor Polendina's 'P.E.N.N.Y. Project', which would allow us to create android soldiers with auras and souls. As you can imagine, we chose the latter."

"It took more than eight years and many trials before the project was a success. Heck, when we started this project, I still had brown hair!" Pietro reminisces about the past, remembering everything that he put into the project. "We managed to successfully create Penny Polendina, the first synthetic person capable of generating an aura. There is, however, one final hurdle: While we managed to upload her A.I. with all the knowledge you can find on your scroll, her social skills are rather…"

"Underdeveloped?"

"Poor?"

"Abysmal?"

Pietro can't deny team Scorpio's descriptions, though he sees it a bit different: "I would use 'like a child', since she's only a bit more than a year old. While we've spent lots of time training her social skills, they have not developed well enough to rival that of a normal person. My original plan was to keep Penny a secret until the upcoming Vytal festival, which would test both her combat and social skills. After her meeting with miss Rose, though, I realized that perhaps it would be better for Penny to let her go and, well, spend time with people her apparent age."

"After some hasty paperwork I managed to admit miss Polendina to the academy. That is how an android managed to enter Atlas Academy." Ironwood bows his head to the girls of Scorpio, something so unheard of that the ace ops are surprised at this display. "I apologize for keeping this a secret from you three. I was aware of the risks of letting an android enter my academy, but I did not consider what effects and complications this would give to those who would be in the same team as her."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby doesn't understand anything that Ironwood wants to apologize for. "Penny is Penny. Is it wrong for her to be an android?"

"You seem accepting enough of us Faunus." Laura joins in, breaking her silence for the first time in this conversation. "Why would you need any discrimination against another race?"

"I promised to take care of my partner. Her race is not a dealbreaker to me."

With Ciel answering like that Weiss can only draw this argument to its logical conclusion: "As you can see, nobody in our team is against Penny's inclusion, even if she is an android. However," That doesn't mean that you cannot milk the situation for all that it's worth. "I do notice that there's a small problem during dinnertime. With one of our members unable to eat we're unable to fully bond together over the meal. I expect that the Atlesian research division will be able to find a solution for this problem."

"Yeah!" Ruby shouts out upon hearing. "I want Penny to be able to enjoy our meals as well."

Weiss rolls her eyes at her teammate. While Ruby isn't incorrect in her statement, it would behoof her if she learned a little bit of tact. This is not how you get someone to comply in negotiations, Ruby!

"It would make dinnertime more enjoyable." Ciel muses, not caring much about the tact of either of her teammates. All of Scorpio is now trying to get concessions out of the general, and they're not the only team to do so:

"I believe I speak for the rest of Regal if I say that we support Scorpio on this decision." Robin looks at his partner and gets a nod in return, letting him continue with his argument. "I believe it would be in Atlas' best interest to ensure a proper environment for their first synthetic aura-generating human."

What is happening here is unheard of: A bunch of students are trying to wring concessions out of Atlas' head general. It's absurd, and something the loyal ace ops cannot let happen to their leader. The shorter female of the ops team wants to make an objection for her general's sake, but Ironwood gestures for her to stay silent before she says a word.

"I'll see what I can do. Pietro?"

The doctor is in thought for a few moments, before reaching a conclusion: "Including a functional digestive system would be impossible without completely rebuilding Penny's body. I suppose that if we're talking about the ability to taste, we could try to implement a modified artificial tongue. If we were to connect the electric signals as potentiometric variations to Penny's AI and manipulate the current response so that-"

Ironwood lets out a big cough, making doctor Polendina realize that he went a bit too far with his thoughts. Quickly he stops and gets back on topic:

"Ah, uhm, yes, forgive my rambling. Anyway, I will ask Cheryl about such a system. Solving this problem should be elementary for her."

Ironwood takes this as the cue to give his final offer to Scorpio: "As you heard, I shall ensure that doctor Oxholm will help doctor Polendina with implementing this artificial tongue. Will this suffice?"

"That will be plenty." Weiss reply politely with a courteous bow.

With that Ironwood declares the time for discussion over and begins commanding orders for everyone in the room. The two members of Regal are sworn to secrecy, and after signing some documents are free to go. The same goes for the members of Scorpio and the ace ops, though they aren't done with Penny. Someone needs to find their missing member, and that task is placed upon both groups.

Ruby finds herself back in Mantle as a result, though not with her teammates. Ironwood plan includes three search parties to cover more ground. Team Scorpio is split up over the teams, to ensure that no matter who finds Penny there's someone familiar to her to calm the android down.

Each team also contains a member of the ace ops, to lead the search party and keep up contact with base. For Ruby, this means that she's been teamed up with the shorter female of the ace ops, Harriet Bree. And with short, we mean "almost as tall as Yang". Considering that the other youngsters of the ace ops are all almost a head taller than Harriet Ruby wonders what they feed the ops… and where she can get some of that food for herself.

Each member of the search parties has been equipped with an earpiece, through which the voice of Pietro could be heard. After confirming that everyone can hear him, he begins to explain the plan: "In the past hours there has been no sign someone matching my daughter's description leaving through any of the city gates nor has a person-shaped flying object been discovered. In other words, she never left the city. Knowing my daughter, as well as the current condition of her face, she most likely sought a secluded place where she can hide."

Ironwood takes over from here, explaining the purpose of each team. "Since it's likely she fled to a place she's familiar with I need the teams led by Clover and Zeki to do a search of these places. Clover, you and miss Schnee will go to Pietro's pharmacy 'O Monstro', located at the corner of Nicholas Street and Fifth Avenue. Zeki; you, Ederne and miss Soleil will search Pietro's residence, located at Alsius Street 207."

"Bree, every member of your team is in possession of a speed semblance. You are responsible for search the area surrounding the arrestation spot in case she found a hiding place close by. I expect a report of progress in thirty minutes."

With that Ironwood hangs up, leaving the two speedsters looking at one another. It makes sense now why the two of them have been teamed up, given that they're both the speedsters of their group.

It's the first time Ruby has met someone with a semblance just like hers. This is an occurrence that comes only a few times in a lifetime, so you better make the most of it! Ruby has an idea, but can only nervously and indirectly bring it up: "So… I suppose that we cover more ground the faster we go, right? If we were to use our semblances-"

"Are you trying to turn this into a race?" Harriet interrupts, knowing where this is going. A busted Ruby can barely stammer out an excuse for her suggestion. Ruby knows that looking for Penny is an important task, but this is a rare opportunity where she can test out the limit of her semblan- "Because I'm game."

Eh?

Did Ruby hear that right? Did her challenge get accepted?

"Got to warn you, there's no way I'm going to let an upstart like you outrun me. Still think you can keep up with me?"

"Nah," Ruby excitedly shouts, "you better keep up with me, Harriet!"

Harriet lets out a snort, liking Ruby's spunk. "Until you're faster than me that's operative Bree to you, kid!"

The racecourse is quickly set: From their current location they will move in an outward spiral through the neighborhood, trying to implement every single street they can so that they have to do as little backtracking as possible. The end goal is a kiosk in the center of one of Mantle's plazas. First person to touch it is the winner.

The two racers go on their mark, get set and… go! They're off, each dashing through the streets of Mantle towards their goal. Ruby runs at full speed but can't help but find Harriet outpacing her. Ruby may be fast, but Harriet is faster.

Yet even so Harriet is unable to shake Ruby off her heels. Even though she's faster, Ruby manages to keep the distance between them close. Whenever Harriet has built up a small lead it's gone after the next turn.

Ruby notices this as well, and thinks she understands why Harriet can't shake her off. A few more twists and turns later Harriet is still unable to shake Ruby off, confirming the student's theory: Harriet may be able to reach higher speeds than Ruby, she can't change her momentum as quickly as the red reaper! Whatever Ruby misses in the straights she'll make up for in the corners and win the race like that!

Street after street the duo pass, traversing at high speeds through Mantle. More then three-quarters of the course has been done by now, but Ruby hasn't taken the lead even once. But in the upcoming street Ruby sees a chance to change that.

Since the two speedsters are racing in Mantle it is obvious that there are also ordinary people using the streets at the same time. This would normally not be a problem as the density of bystanders is low enough that neither contestant has trouble avoiding them.

However, they just entered a school zone in the afternoon. There's an entire bunch of children swarming the street and walkway, blocking the path for Harriet as she must slow down to safely traverse through this horde. Ruby takes this moment to speed up jumping up in the sky and bursting over the sea of children as a cloud of rose petals, leaving Harriet to bite her dust.

Yes! For the first time Ruby has taken over the lead, and with quite some distance on Harriet to boot! Sure, the end is pretty much one long straight, but Ruby should be able to keep the lead until the finish!

When the finish is in sight Ruby takes one last glance behind her, and sees Harriet quickly catching up to her. Sure, Harriet may be faster than her, but this difference is insane! She's reducing Ruby's lead to nothing in mere seconds! What is going on here?

Harriet smirks at her upcoming victory. It's a shame, Ruby, but you will bring about your own downfall. Your semblance causes slipstreams of wind? Why thank you! Harriet will happily get dragged in to get that extra burst of speed!

Ruby keep going at full speed, refusing to lose here. Go faster… just go faster! The finish is in sight, she can't lose here!

From the corner of her eyes she sees something approaching from behind her, inching closer. As this person runs right next to Ruby it's obvious that it's Harriet, giving a smirk to her opponent as she takes over the lead. Ruby can do nothing but watch as Harriet touches the kiosk first, half a second before Ruby can do so.

Immediately after finishing Ruby decelerates, feeling the slipstream of her own semblance ruffling her hair as she falls over from exhaustion. "Hah… hah…" Ruby is panting, but she feels satisfied with her defeat. Sure, she lost the race by a hair, but her opponent is one of Atlas ace ops, the best huntsman group of the continent! That she came this close to victory speaks wonders about her own potential!

Harriet has seen the results of this competition as well, sort of impressed with Ruby. She walks over to the huntress in training, giving her a cocky smirk. "Not bad, kid. Though, I'd say that I'm a little faster."

"That difference… hah… was nothing." Ruby gives a cocky smile back, proud of her accomplishments.

"Nothing?" Harriet asks cockily, "Then I assume that you've kept your speed in control to keep an eye out for our missing redhead during the race?"

Ehm… Ruby doesn't have an answer for that question, as she was quite honestly lost in the race. If Harriet had the time to do that all while she was racing, then it is Ruby's complete and utter loss.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Harriet laps Ruby on the back. "You're still in training, so you've got plenty of chances to get faster."

"Harrie-" no, wait, she wasn't allowed to call her that, "I mean operative Bree, I-"

"Just call me Harriet." The ace op doesn't care that much for proper decorum when there's no leader or head general around, so there's no need to be so formal. "And besides, it's a bit unfair when you challenge me without a true speed semblance of your own."

"?" Ruby doesn't understand. Her semblance's effect is that it makes her go fast. Why is that not a true speed semblance?

Harriet sees the confusion on Ruby's face and sighs, annoyed she has to explain this. "bursting into petals, generating slipstreams, moving forward without touching the ground… I've seen other speed semblances before, but that was different. I think there's more going on than you think."

"But then what is my semblance?"

"Beats me." Harriet replies with a shrug. "That's your problem to find out, isn't it?"

Fair enough. Ruby will worry about that later, as they still have a Penny to find. Ruby takes a good look around her, hoping to see any sign of a familiar redhead. She doesn't find any Pennys, though she starts to recognize the neighborhood she's in. Huh, those shops over there are familiar, and she's heard her teammates talk about how they were saved during initiation since they could enter "Hamelin's Instruments". Yeah that's why this place is familiar: This is the same place as where Weiss held her impromptu concert!

And that means that they just might have found another lead.

Ruby attends Harriet on the instrument shop and its importance, and together they enter. Hamelin, the store owner, isn't in sight, even though the shop's officially open. It's strange… usually someone would be attending the store. Something is wrong here, which means that someone may be the cause of that. Perhaps a certain redhead has infiltrated this sho-

"Fufu… no step further!" the two speedsters look in the direction of the voice, where a young girl is standing on top of one of the pianos. "I am Hameln! Guarding the shop from burglars like you is my meeshon!"

Hameln tries to look menacing and imposing, which isn't working as she slurred her last word… and, well, she looks to be six. At that age pretty much everything you do will get you coos from everyone around you, as Ruby is less intimidated and more trying to help and improve the little girl:

"Ehm, don't you mean mission?"

"I-I see!" A flustered Hameln realizes before correcting herself, "Yes, it's my mission to stop yule! Y-You!"

Harriet walks up to the girl, pulling out her scroll to display a picture of Penny. She shows the picture to Hameln as she softly talks to the girl: "Hey there miss, my name is Harriet, and she's Ruby. We're searching for this girl in the picture. Can you tell us if she entered the store today?"

Young Hameln thinks it over, not sure whether she should talk. Sure, these two women aren't strangers anymore. Still, what would her father say? "I don't think I ha-"

Before the girl can answer she stumbles on top of the piano, causing her to fall backwards. She closes her eyes and lets out a yelp of fear as she plummets to the floor. Instead of impacting with the cold hard floor she feels herself being caught in someone's arms. She opens her eyes and sees Ruby holding her tightly, a few rose petals drifting by as the young huntress-in-training has used her semblance to catch the girl in time.

"Wow…" The girl says in amazement, "are you two huntresses?"

Ruby flinches at answering, not wanting to point out that she's just one in training. Harriet on the other hand doesn't flinch. "Yep, we're huntresses." Ruby looks a bit confused at Harriet's words as she puts Hameln on the ground but doesn't try to correct the ace op. "Do you want to be one too?"

"Uh-huh!" Hameln nods happily, agreeing with Harriet. "When I'm big I'll be strong enough to protect daddy and his freends!"

"Yeah, you should do that." Harriet lowers herself to the girl's eye height and put a hand on her shoulder as she gives a kind smile Ruby hasn't seen on the ace op before. "Do your best, and maybe we'll fight grimm together in the future."

"Yeah!" The girl shouts happily, "I will-"

The sound of a flute interrupts the conversation, as someone enters the building playing one. The young girl becomes entranced upon hearing the sound, running over to the source.

"Daddy!" She grabs her father's leg and hugs it, causing the father to smile as well. Upon seeing the other two people he quickly ends the song and greets them:

"Welcome to Hamelin's instruments. Ah, and it seems one of my guests is miss Schnee's teammate. How is she doing?"

"Weiss is fine, but there's something going on with another of our teammate, the redhead. She's gone missing, and we're wondering if you have seen her."

Hamelin takes a few second to recall his memories, before having to disappoint the two huntresses: "Ah, yes, the DJ, I remember her. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I haven't seen her after that concert Weiss gave."

"Oh." Ruby says disappointedly. "Ehm, thank you anyways!"

The huntresses leave the store, this possibility not having born fruit. Though, Ruby did learn one new thing: "Didn't expect you to be this good with kids, Harriet."

Instead of a cocky snort Harriet just admits to that. "The kids are our future, and their smiles are what I fight for. I just can't help but act friendly with them, you know?"

That's… actually really sweet of Harriet. Ruby didn't imagine that this cocky ace op would have a soft spot like tha-

"And besides, one of them has to grow up fast enough to beat me, because you clearly can't do it."

"Hey!" Ruby protests. Harriet laughs heartily at Ruby's annoyance, but does not forget that they have another job to do:

"Now, let's go back to finding your teammate. Any other ideas where she might be hiding?"

Hmm… Just searching places at random at random is not going to get them to Penny. A clear and direct approach is needed, but it's not something that Ruby can do on her own. The only one with the knowledge for thar is sitting up in Atlas, but luckily Ruby can connect to him.

Ruby uses her scroll to contact the base, requiring assistance from Penny's father.

"Mister Polendina?"

"Ah, Ruby!" Yep, that's Pietro Polendina on the other side of the line. "Did you find my dear Penny?"

"I'm sorry, but we haven't found her yet. I'm asking if there are any places nearby that Penny might know through you. I'm currently at the corner of Jabal Street and Seventeenth Avenue. Is there any place that's familiar to you?"

"Let me look that up… hmm…" Pietro goes over the area, trying to find something he knows well. After third second of searching he hasn't answered, unable to find anything he recogniz-"No, wait, that one I recognize. On Twentieth Avenue is a candy parlor named Pleasure Island. I frequently visited the place in my youth. Hmm… I did promise Penny once to take her there when she was a real girl, but I don't think she remembered such a promise from her old man. I guess it's worth a shot, but don't expect too much from it."

"No, that's plenty of help. Thank you mister Polendina!" Ruby hangs up before telling Harriet about what Pietro told her. Harriet sees no better lead for now, so together they go to the newest possibility for Penny's hideout.

Pleasure Island is only a short distance away from their current position. With a speed semblance it takes even less time to reach the candy parlor. Within minutes they stand before the doors of the store.

The closed doors of the store, that is. Pleasure Island is apparently closed because its owner caught the flu, meaning that there's currently nobody manning the store. The store windows are intact, and the door shows no signs of breaking and entering. From what she can see through the windows there hasn't been someone inside of here for at least a day or two.

"Huh. It looks like this one's a bust." Ruby is about to walk away to their next search location, but Harriet stops her:

"Kid, before you go away how about you look up first?"

"?" Ruby looks up, not understanding why Harriet wants her t-"someone left that window open!"

On the third floor of the store a large window has been left open, big and far enough that someone can easily slip through and enter the building. It's the correct observation according to the ace op, who proceeds to explain why this is important: "And why would a closed store have its window that far open? Either they're asking for someone to enter-"

"Or someone entered the store through there!" Ruby adds, understanding why the open window is suspicious. "We've got to enter Pleasure Island!"

"Heh. On it." Harriet activates her semblance to run up the wall, catching the open window and leaping inside it. A wowed Ruby stares at the window, from which Harriet looks down at Ruby. "So, are you coming up here or do I need to open the front door?"

Oh no, Ruby is not going to take that taunt lying down! With the help of her semblance entering Pleasure Island is as easy as it gets. Harriet lets out a smirk as she sees the other speedster enter the building, now giving them the time to search the building.

The room they entered in is an office, the photos indicating that it is probably of the owner of this parlor. The rest of the floor is the same: a few offices and one large dining room for the employees, all as empty as he first office.

After going down a floor they enter the storage room, where cardboard boxes hold all king of sweet goodness. A search of the room confirms that there's no Penny in sight here, so the duo goes down to the first floor, the ground floor connected with the outside. Obviously, this floor holds the candy parlor.

There's no denying that Pleasure Island is indeed a candy parlor. Not just all sorts of candy can be found here, but also cakes, pies, ice cream and more. So much more! It's like Ruby landed in sweetness heaven, she's already drooling from the mouth!

"Hey!" The sudden shouting of Harriet brings Ruby out of her trance. The ace op looks annoyed at Ruby's lack of focus. "Save your drooling over candy for later. We're on a mission, so don't go make an ass out of yourself."

"Fine…" A sulking Ruby grumbles, but she shakes off her mood after remembering that they need to find Penny first. Together with Harriet she searches all over the floor, but there's no sign of any redheads. It looks like Pleasure Island is a bust as well.

Just as Ruby wants to call it quits, she notices a door in the corner of her eye. It is half-hidden by one of the displays, hence why she didn't notice it until now. The sign on it reads "Employee Only", but upon testing the door isn't locked. Inside Ruby sees a set of stairs spiraling downward. She calls Harriet over, and with a nod they descend to the basement.

The basement of Pleasure Island is dark, and with no faunus in the group it requires for Ruby to reach for the light switch. Upon finding and flipping it the room lights up to show a recreation room: There is a jukebox, a ping pong table and even a pool table here. The perfect place for the employees to take a break…

…or for a runaway android to seek refuge, if that orange mob of hair behind the pool table is any indication.

"Penny?" Ruby asks cautiously, even though she knows in her heart that it's her teammate sitting there.

"N-No.*hic*" The lie isn't believed by anyone, not even Penny. The two speedsters nod at each other, each doing their own job: Harriet steps out of the room and calls to the other teams that Penny has been found, while Ruby walks around the table and sits next to her teammate.

"Penny…"

"P-Please," Penny shouts as she hides her face from Ruby. "don't look at me!"

"Penny, if this is about you being an android, we know."

"How did you know?" Upon hearing that Penny look at Ruby with surprise, giving Ruby a good view of Penny's half-destroyed face. While most of her face still looks humanoid, there's a thick line from her left eyebrow to her chin that's shows the metal underneath. Her left eye also lacks any semblance to a real eye and is just a depression from which a green light brightly shines. It reminds Ruby a bit of that cyborg superhero she once read about in Yang's comic books.

Penny realizes that she's given her teammate a good look of her face as well, and quickly turns her head around. Ruby puts her hand on the redhead's shoulder before explaining her newfound knowledge: "Your father explained everything to us. Me, Weiss, Ciel; we all know that you're an android."

"I… yes." Penny says dejectedly, "I'm an android. I'm not a real girl."

Now hold on just a second! What Penny is saying is wrong, so it's up to Ruby to correct her friend: "Of course you are! You think that just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me? You're not one of those Knight robots used by the military, Penny. You've got a heart, and a soul. I can feel it!"

In response Penny puts Ruby's hand on her chest. There's no thumping of heart palpable, which Penny notes: "I don't have a heart, and my soul does not belong to me."

While Ruby is somewhat willing to concede the first, there's no way that she can accept the latter. "What are you talking about, Penny? Your soul is your soul! If it isn't yours then who does it belong to?"

"As you know my father forged me by imbuing part of his own soul into my body. That is the source of my aura and my soul."

"Eh?" That news comes as a complete surprise to Ruby. While interesting from a mechanical standpoint, how that should work is a bit too high concept for her.

Penny can read Ruby's surprise and inability to grasp what has just been said and draws her own conclusion from it: "You… don't understand that. My father did not explain that to you."

"Well," Ruby admits sheepishly, "With 'everything' I meant more something amongst the lines of how you're an android and stuff, not exactly how you were made."

"Oh." In that case Penny is afraid she might've just given away state secrets. "Ruby? Could you please keep that last part a secret from everyone else?"

Ruby nods and promises to do so if that's what Penny wants. That doesn't mean that she should give up on cheering up her friend:

"But Penny, aren't we all made by others? Just like you were made by your father, I was made by my own parents."

"Yes," Penny understands where Ruby is coming from. "I am aware that girls are usually formed when an adult male puts hi-"

"Stop! stop stop stop!" Ruby shouts out as she puts her fingers in her ears, "I get it, my dad told me the story of the birds and the bees as well, I do not need to hear that a second time!" No person needs to listen to that story twice in their life, thank you very much!

Penny understands and skips that part of her reasoning. Instead she goes straight to the heart of her counterargument: "But that's not the same, Ruby. You are partially your father, and partially your mother. They gave birth to a whole new soul. Everything that gives me life is from my father. I'm just his stringless puppet, running on my father's energy."

"Then are you your father?" The question was so rhetorical that Ruby doesn't even give Penny the chance to answer. "Maybe your aura once was your father's soul. But that's in the past, Penny. And right now? It's your soul, and your aura. I'm not just the creation from bits from dad and mom. I'm me! And you're you!"

"I… yes!" Penny's eyes brighten upon hearing that. Literally as well, considering the intensity of the glow from her metallic eye. Ruby doesn't have much time to ponder about it, as she gets tackled to the group by her friend in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you, Ruby. You're the best friend anyone could have!"

"Urgh!" And now Ruby finds herself unable to breath. While Ruby doesn't care that Penny is a robot, she should learn how to control her superhuman strength a bit better. Ruby taps her friend on the shoulder, causing Penny to realize that she's hugging Ruby a bit too tightly.

"Oh! Sorry!" Penny lets go of Ruby, who now is catching her breath. Ruby doesn't fault her friend for her happiness, and instead offers Penny to go outside together, towards their teammates. Penny agrees, and together they step out of the candy parlor's basement.

Together with Harriet the three of them exit Pleasure Island. On Harriet's suggestion Penny is wearing Ruby's cape, using its hood to cover her face. While none of Scorpio or the ace ops have any problems with androids Penny's true nature is still a state secret, so some steps to keep that secret need to be taken.

The RP pair of Scorpio exit Pleasure island through the front door. Upon doing so they are surprised that the two other search parties are standing in front of them. Weiss and Ciel are standing there, glad to see Penny again.

Penny nervously steps forwards, not wanting to hear what her teammates say about her sudden disappearance. "Everyone… I-"

"Welcome back, Penny." Ciel interrupts with a small smile, glad that the team is complete again.

Penny is visibly confused by this reaction from her partner. "You are… not mad at me?"

"Should I? You are not responsible for anything I should be mad for." Ciel explains with a stoic smile, not holding anything against Penny. But while Ciel reacts like that, Weiss mood is a bit less positive:

"Oh, I was a bit mad. Mostly surprised, shocked and confused, but also angry that you kept this a secret."

Penny flinches at that, but silently accepts Weiss' judgement. Even Ruby's mood worsens because of the tension between her teammates. It comes as a surprise when Weiss then process to lift the tension by further explaining how she felt:

"But that was a few hours ago. That means I've had enough time to think everything over. And you know what, Penny? I don't care." At Weiss' declaration Ruby and Penny look with surprise at their team leader, hope dawning on their faces. "If you were a member of the White Fang or so, I could understand you running away. But do you think that we would dislike you just because you're an android?"

Penny guiltily looks away from her team leader. "Weiss, I-"

"Euh puh puh puh puh." Weiss interrupts her teammate, not letting her apologize just yet. "I wasn't finished. The next time you've got something big coming up, you come to your teammates instead of running away. Understood?"

"Yes!" Penny nods. If she had tear ducts she would cry from happiness, but with her lack of those she settles for a group hug. The rest of Scorpio join in, huddling together on the streets of Mantle. It has been a long and tiresome day, but together they will return to Atlas Academy. Together they will return to their home.

 _Two weeks later:_

Despite everything that happened in Mantle life at Atlas Academy goes on. Most of team Scorpio went back to following classes, except for Penny. Officially she's been sick for the past few weeks, even though in reality she's being repaired by her father and his colleagues. Her teammates have been visiting the workplace multiple times, and they have seen the progress of Penny's reparations.

Currently the rest of Scorpio is back in their dorm, each busy with their own activity after another day of school. Ruby is in the kitchen, cooking dinner; Weiss is using her scroll to look over some SDC reports and Ciel is using the moment to review her grimm studies project. All in all, today turns out to be another normal day fo-

"Salutations, friends!"

Weiss and Ciel turn towards the door, where the last member of Scorpio is standing. They both immediately quit what they're doing and ask the redhead how she's feeling.

"I am fully operational, thanks for asking." Penny replies cheerfully. Her current health is also visible, as there's no trace left of the missing strip of skin. Even upon close inspection not a single scar can be found on Penny's face. "What have I missed?"

"Mostly homework." Ciel replies with a soft smile. "I assume that Weiss is going to take you through everything you missed, correct?"

"Hey now, don't think you can shove this all on me. I'll make sure you've got plenty to do in bringing Penny back up to speed." Weiss and Ciel laugh at each other remarks, even though Penny doesn't get the joke. Not that it matters too much, seeing her teammates so joyful does cause positive feelings to well up from inside the android.

The trio are interrupted when Ruby opens the kitchen door, strutting forth with a soup pan in hand while wearing a red apron emblazoned with "Please give cookies to the cook".

"Dinner's ready, sisters-Penny!" Ruby drops the soup pan on the dinner table and hugs her long-lost teammate. The hug she gets in return reminds Ruby again why that is usually a bad idea, as she can feel the air being squished out of her lungs. Yep, bad idea indeed.

Penny eventually stops hugging, much to the relief of Ruby. Penny still looks happy, now finally returned to her new home after spending two weeks in her old one. "I'm back, everyone!"

"Yeah…" Ruby lets out between heavy breaths, "welcome back, Penny."

"I see that dinner is ready." Penny says as she points to the soup pan. "What do we have for supper?"

"Oh, I've made mustard soup according to a traditional Rose family recipe!"

This gets an eyeroll from the two more serious personalities of Scorpio, especially their leader: "And with that you mean you used a recipe found on your scroll?"

"Nuh-uh!" Ruby brings up in defense, "It may once have been based on a readily available recipe, but after much trial and error I've perfected every aspect and made the recipe my own!"

Ciel proceeds to translate the true meaning behind Ruby's description: "She used three garlic cloves instead of two. Our cook wanted to finish what remained of the bulb."

"Ciel!" Ruby pretty much hisses out. "That was a secret of the chef! Revealing trade secrets like that should be disallowed from now on!"

Ciel lets out a small smile at Ruby's antics, as Weiss points out that if they continue this charade the soup will grow cold. Not able to refute that logic Scorpio wants to start dinner, but Penny asks if she can have some soup as well.

"Sure you can! The recipe-" Ruby coughs before quickly correcting herself, "My recipe is meant for four persons anyways, so whether it's eaten now or stored for leftover day doesn't matter." Ruby walks over to the kitchen and grabs another soup plate for Penny to use, and everyone sits down at the table.

The quartet say their thanks for the food, before digging in. While most of them wait a little while for the soup to cool down and not burn their tongue, Penny tastes the first spoonful of her hot soup. This does not go unnoticed by Ruby:

"How does it taste, Penny?"

Penny swallows the soup in her mouth, before giving a bright smile to the rest of her team: "It is simply phenomenal!"

* * *

Blake just… fled? Those she left behind are shocked and surprised, but it's her boyfriend that takes it the hardest. With an angry roar he stomps over to the unconscious mook, the tall and lanky one who was abandoned by his friends. Grabbing him by his collar he violently shakes the mook awake, the anger in his eyes only hidden by his dark sunglasses. If he can't get Blake back, then at least there will be revenge!

The mook, Jasper, observes his situation in an instant. His team is nowhere to be seen, he is disarmed, and the red-headed faunus who defeated his whole team is angrily staring at him. Yeah, panic is the clear reaction here:

"Aaaah! W-W-What do you w-want, beast?"

That was a poor choice of words from the guy. Adam rears his fist back and punches Jasper in the face, hard enough to knock him unconscious. This doesn't mean that the bull faunus stops, as he rears his arm back to keep on punching this bastard who took his Blake away from him.

Just as Adam rears back his fist he feels himself being stopped by someone. Looking to his side he sees that the blondie has grabbed his arm, putting force on it so that he cannot easily punch the thug.

"You…"

Yang shakes her head in disapproval at his plan. "Don't, Adam."

This only angers Adam more, his rage boiling over. "Why shouldn't I?" Adam throws out his hand, gesturing towards the unconscious mook. "Those thugs have given me nothing but grief!"

"Oh, trust me." Yang says as she cracks her knuckles, "I want to punch this guy just as much as you do, but it's not going to help us find Blake. He's not worth the time."

"Tsk." Though it annoys Adam, he can't find fault in that argument. Instead of beating this guy down he throws him into a nearby dumpster. That should quell his rage for now. Perhaps she is right, now it's time to find his Blake.

Adam looks at the two girls at his side, who helped defend Blake from these thugs. Based on the stories his lover told him it's easy to assume who these two are: "I believe you two are Yang Xiao-Long and Vernal Branwen, Blake and Ilia's teammates."

Yang and Vernal look at Adam, and then at each other. Adam did get their names right, yes. He may have heard who are in his girlfriend's team, he has clearly never seen any pictures, as he pointed at Vernal first and then at Yang instead of the other way around. "Actually, I'm Yang, and she's Vernal."

Adam raises an eyebrow at that, somewhat confused. "You? You don't even look remotely Mistrallian."

"Eh." Yang shrugs her shoulders, being used to that. Adam was not the first to point that out, nor will he probably be the last. Instead of continuing that topic it's better to just go after Blake. "Now, do you want to go after Blake or not?"

"You know where she is?" Adam asks in surprise.

"As long as she still got her scroll with her." Yang wiggles the scroll in her own hand to call attention to it, now glad that her investments are paying off. "Never thought we would use the tracking app for this."

Yang and Vernal both open the app, which shows a map of Vale and four blinking dots. The two blinking dots located right next to each other are the VY pair, while the dot back at Beacon should be that of Ilia. It stands to reason that the last dot is Blake, which is currently moving away from their location. It's moving westwards, in the direction of "The docks?"

"She wouldn't!" Adam shouts out in surprise. "My Blake would never try to flee by stowing away on some ship!"

While Adam seems to combine worry, fear and anger into one negative mix of emotions Yang takes this moment to proof once more why she is the leader of Vibrant: "If she's planning that, then it doesn't change a thing. We just got to get to her before she can get on a ship."

Vernal agrees with Yang's decision but points out a flaw in how they're going to get there: "And if we want to be fast enough, we need to use your motorcycle. I doubt that Bumblebee can support the three of us, so who do you want to leave behind, Yang?"

Before Yang can make that choice, Adam assuages the members of Vibrant that a sacrifice won't be necessary. He has his own mode of transportation, so the ladies can stick together on their own. The three of them nod at each other as they move to their vehicles.

Yang grabs the steering bars of her beloved Bumblebee, while on the seat behind her Vernal is keeping track of Blake's location. They go down the street, ready to pursue their fleeing friend.

Another motorcycle is driving next to them before Yang knows it. Compared to the painted and specced Bumblebee this one is still factory-standard, only the coloration of the bike is changed to a matte black. Through the motorcyclist's helmet has an opaque visor it's still clear who is driving the bike, considering the holes at the top through which a pair of horns stick through. Both drivers nod to one another, as Yang takes the lead towards their runaway teammate.

The two bikers traverse through several streets, following Vernal's directions to the docs. Swerving around corners and other automobilists, they take the quickest path towards the docks. They enter the highway, a series of roads high above the metropolis of Vale that allows for quick travel between the different districts. It's undeniably the fastest way, though they quickly hit a snag:

The cars in front of them are in a traffic jam. While that's not a problem for motorcyclists who can swerve through them, the real problem lies in the cause of the jam: A car accident is taking up most of the road. The police had to step in to make sure that everyone can still traverse the single lane of the highway they managed to keep open.

Even a motorcycle would be unable to squeeze through this blockade. They can try to wait in line for their turn to pass, but a single glance at the traffic jam's snail's pace is enough to know that by the time they're through this blockade Blake will be long gone from Vale.

They can't just stay on the highway. Yang tries to get everyone to turn around and take the first junction to another road, but Vernal disagrees:

"We're never going to make it in time if we do that!" Vernal points at her scroll, where Blake is hurrying over towards the docks. The last junction is quite an end away, and if they take the previous junction they won't be in time at the docks even if they push their motorcycles to their limits!

Yang looks around her, trying to come up with something. Inspiration strikes her as she glances over the edges of the highway: "I have an idea." One advantage of Vale's highways are that they're elevated above the other streets, allowing the commuters to quickly drive to their destination. Of course, this means that it's not just the streets that are below them, but the houses as well.

Yang grins as she revs Bumblebee up, both Adam and Vernal confused towards Yang's plan. When Yang goes off the side of the highway Adam begins to understand and follow, while Vernal seems to just realize that her partner is completely insane! Instead of driving over the highway they drive their bikes over rooftops, using pieces of the building as improvised ramps to traverse between them!

The rooftop run goes surprisingly smooth. There's a surprising number of flat roofs and mansards here in Vale, while the tilted roofs aren't steep enough to make driving over them impossible. Steadily they move along the roofs, not inhabited by any other traffic up here. There are also no houses in the way, allowing the two motorcycles to make a beeline towards their destination. If it weren't for the uneven terrain this might be just as great a road as the highway, and certainly the more fun and adventurous one!

Vernal is still checking the direction Blake takes, but suddenly notices a problem with this rooftop run: "Yang!" Vernal shouts out as she points in front of them, "Up ahead!"

About ten houses down the road there's a street between the houses. The gap this creates would normally not be a problem, were it not for a large billboard from the SDC preventing them from jumping between the houses. It may be just made of wood, crashing with it will probably be disastrous for the bike, the drivers and their balance. Most likely they will immediately crash after breaking through the giant ad.

Yang slows down a bit, trying to find a way around the billboard. There's also no good way to jump down to street level without damaging Bumblebee. Hmm, what to do here?

As Yang ponders about this problem she gets overtaken by the other motorcyclist. Instead of slowing down like Yang Adam speeds up, using his right hand to draw his weapon from an attachment to his bike. He leans slightly to the right, letting Wilt scrape over the rooftops. Sparks fly off the katana, now glowing with an awesome power. Its burning grip tells Adam to defeat his enemy, in this case the billboard standing between him and Blake. Adam jumps off the roof, throwing himself headfirst into the giant piece of wood. He makes a single slash with Wilt, filled with all his love, anger and sorrow for his girlfriend.

Before this power, the billboard literally wilts away into thousands of rose petals. Now with no more billboard in the way Adam safely lands on the next roof, paving the way for Yang to do the same. Bumblebee gets revved up again, as she follows Adam down the rooftops towards the docks.

After another dozen roofs or so they manage to find a simple way down to the ground, from where they continue to drive towards the docks, still the direction in which Blake is fleeing.

*Wee-woo wee-woo*

It quickly turns out that the trio are not the only ones who realized they took the rooftop route, as the blaring sirens are not from either of them. Behind them a pair of cop cars are following the two motorcycles, clearly not too happy with people using a "rooftop shortcut".

Yang clicks her tongue in annoyance. So perhaps what they did was not entirely by-the-book, but that shouldn't mean that they get the police after them! As much as she wants to pull over and explain the situation, every second spend on not moving forward increases the chance of Blake forever leaving Vale. There's no other option but to race onwards towards their teammate.

As the chase continues the gap between the motorbikes and the cop cars increases. It's not that surprising, considering that the cars the police use weren't build with a need for speed. They're patrol cars, with the purpose of conveying policemen from one part of the city to the other. They're not made for hot pursuits.

After three turns the police cars give up, unable to keep up with the swifter motorbikes. Rather then risk themselves in an unsafe pursuit they realized it's better to let these minor lawbreakers go.

Yang lets out a smile of relief. At least that's one problem temporarily dealt with. She really doesn't have the time to have some fun with the police. Now they're free to pursuit Blake-

*Wee-woo- wee-woo*

New police signals. No chance they would get off this easily. Why are the cops not trying to go after real criminals rather than the three of them? They've done nothing wrong! Oh well, at least Bumblebee should be able to… outspeed… them…

Yang looks behind her at the cop cars, coming to realize that they're not dealing with the average police force anymore. No, they're dealing with Vale's legendary supercar police force! This force has confiscated a bunch of race cars and tuned them so they can catch even the fastest speed devil! And it appears those guys have nothing better to do then chase the three rooftop runners around.

Ugh, this is going to get annoying, but Yang has a solution for this problem. Yang screams her plan at Adam, who nods in agreement. As the police cars catch up and are almost next to the bikers the trio quickly hit the brakes, making a quick one-eighty turn to go back the way they came. It might be a slight detour, but if it gets the police off their trail it's well worth it!

The police cars speed past the two bikes, not expecting the sudden stop. They are forced to slow down and seek a way to flip directions. But that's impossible here: If they don't slow down, they'll end up straight in the buildings. It's obvious to Yang, these police cars are going too fast! These police cars have no more room to slow down unless they are willing to let the bikers out of their sight.

The screeching of tires puts an end to that delusion. Yang looks back upon hearing the sound and sees the two supercars making a 180 degree turn after first steering a bit into the walkways.

What the…? Inertia drift? Where did the police find guys who can do that? And why couldn't those cops do something actually useful with those drifting skills, like making food deliveries to cliff- and mountaintops like Beacon Academy?

The sound of wet NOZ being flushed into car engines can be heard through the street, as the police cars are quickly catching up with the runaways. These police cars really are made for speed, as they manage to catch up quickly.

Yang's best bet at shaking off her pursuers has failed. It appears that there's no helping it: What they must do now is to reach Blake before they get captured by the police. Everything can be explained to the police after Blake is secured. Now it's up to Vernal to guide them to their missing teammate.

"I've lost signal!" Vernal shouts out in annoyance, dashing the latest plan of Yang. "They're jamming us!"

The police are now using jammers? Seriously, who is paying the police for all their wonderful toys?

As the trio continue to be in hot pursuit on the streets of Vale they succeed in staying in front of the cops. However, that is a mistake on Yang's part. She's completely forgotten that those supercars are not for catching the criminals. No, all they need to do is keep vision on the criminals while other policemen ensure that there's no escape. When Vernal leads the group onto a long straightway the policemen in the supercar smirk, realizing that the mouse has fallen in the cat's trap. The trio understand what the police mean after further driving down the road.

A blockade of police cars prevents the trio from exiting this street, as two policemen throw out spike strips in front of the cars to make sure that no motorcycle can traverse the gaps between the cars. With the interceptors behind them and no streets to the left or right the police have finally managed to trap them. Adam notices as well, searching for a possibility to break free. Upon looking to the side he believes to have found it:

Next to the blockade is a donut shop undergoing renovations. The renovators have brought a few pick-up trucks with them, and one of these trucks has a ramp on it that's placed at the perfect angle. With enough speed they should be able to use the ramp to land on the tilted roof of the donut shop, and from there go over one last building before they can jump back onto the ground.

The only problem with this idea is that the top of the donut shop has a large, rotating sign on top of the building in the shape of a donut. Not only do they need to make enough speed to reach the top, with how the ramps are laid out they also need to time their jump so that they don't collide with the sign, the latter only possible if they go through the hole of the donut.

It's not like they have any other choice, so Yang has no other option but to try! With a flick of her thumb she presses on a red button attached to her steering grip. Thanks to the money Vernal stole from Torchwick Yang has been able to put a few upgrades to her bike, including a Noz bottle. Extra oxygen gets pumped into the cylinders of the motor, giving Bumblebee a big boost in speed as she ramps off the pick-up truck, and straight onto the building. With the extra speed boost Yang has no problem moving over the angled roof, and with an extra dose of nitrous oxygen she jumps straight through the donut hole!

Yang can't help but let out a shout of joy at this breathtaking feat, especially upon hearing a wimpy shriek from her partner behind her. It's like the icing on the cake of this awesome stunt. Now that she has escaped the police blockade it's up to Blake's boyfriend to do the same.

Adam unsheathes his sword again, letting it drag over the street. Adam glows crimson once more, as he jumps onto the roof as well. What his bike lacks in speed compared to that of Bumblebee it makes up for it with the grip on the tires, giving him enough traction to push himself over the roof. Now that he's on the roof he swings his sword, unleashing another moonslice upon the city. This time it hits the support beam of the giant donut, causing the sign to fall over. With that obstacle out of the way Adam can pass the roof safely even with the speed of an untuned motorcycle.

With the way the building is made the donut sign slides straight off the building and onto the street. The same street where police officers stare with awe at the pair of motorcycles that just ramped over the donut shop. Quickly their wow makes place for fear as they realize a giant donut is about to fall on top of them. Police quickly evacuate their cars and get away from the impact zone, as the giant donut lands on top of the police cars. The interceptor supercars slam the brakes as hard as they can, barely able to stop in time from crashing into the fallen signpost. Their pursuit has come to a grinding halt.

Yang, Vernal and Adam however keep on driving, and after a second or twenty Vernal's scroll has signal once more. It looks like they've given their pursuers the slip! While Yang feels kind of bad about the property damage they've inflicted on the police, preventing Blake from running away is just a bit more important. The two pursue the cat faunus once more, who is still located at the docks.

It takes less than a minute for the motorcyclists to reach that destination as well. The docks, unsurprisingly, smell like fish, the fisherman's wharf being a pretty large part of this district. Blake has been stuck in this area for the last few minutes, which is not that surprising: While there are many boats docked here in the harbor only a small percentage of them has another kingdom as its destination. With only a handful of boats each day that have Blake's destination in mind her waiting time is plentiful enough that Yang can catch up.

In hindsight, this means that they probably should've pulled over to the cops and explained their situation. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. What's done is done, so let's make sure it wasn't in vain!

"Half a mile, straight ahead!" Vernal shouts out, giving the latest direction towards Blake. It's the last stretch, as Blake is finally in sight!

There is Blake, standing on the docks as she's surrounded by a group of sailors in blue-white uniforms. Yang isn't sure what to think about it, but next to her she can hear Adam let out an angry scream. He throttles his bike and speeds at the group, before jumping off. His bike turns into a projectile, crashing over the ground as it steers straight into the sailors. Some of them managed to dodge, but most get bowled over by the makeshift projectile.

Adam lands next to his girlfriend, right hand on Wilt and his left holding onto the trigger of Blush. Warily he looks at the group of sailors still standing, though he doesn't deem them a threat. "Don't worry, Blake. I'll make sure they won't hurt us ever again."

"Adam?" A confused Blake asks, not understanding how he found her. More importantly, she must make sure that her boyfriend doesn't do anything she may regret. "Don't fight them! They're only trying to help me!"

Adam loudly scoffs at that notion, pointing out who are in front of them. "You're trying to get help from the Schnee's lapdogs?" If the white and blue uniforms didn't hint towards it, then the Schnee logo emblazoned on the chest pocket of each sailor makes it obvious. "I can forgive you running away, my love, but I cannot forgive the direction you're running towards!"

"Perhaps we are working for the Schnee, but that doesn't mean we share all of his opinions." From in-between the sailors an older man steps up, his outfit being more distinctive and embellished. "When you're on a ship for weeks with the same crew you quickly find out that the difference between human and faunus is only arbitrary. As for young miss Belladonna here, we were simply discussing the possibility for her to temporarily join my crew as payment for transport. Though I must say that my recommendation for her is not to travel out of Vale at all. I don't think that any of your three teammates would agree with that."

Hang on… teammates? Blake looks away from the captain and to the side, where Blake and Vernal are walking up to her after parking Bumblebee. Blake can feel a chill running down her back, as she subconsciously takes a step backwards. Once more the fight or flight reaction is triggered, and with her that reaction usually leans towards the latter.

At seeing Blake's actions Yang starts to scowl a bit. Blake, trying to run away for a second time? Oh no, like hell she will! Yang is not going to let her teammate run away again! Instead she catches Blake attention, pointing to something behind Blake. "Look! A cargo crate filled with tuna!"

 **Not Running again**

"Huh?" Blake looks behind her, also wanting to see that. "Where?"

Wow, Yang can't believe that classic tactic still works. Without wasting a moment she tackles Blake to the ground, ensuring that she can't run away. "Blake, let's just go and talk it out, 'kay?"

As Yang says this the Blake she held onto etherealizes and dissolves, turning into nothingness. Dang it, she hit one of Blake's shadows instead! Curse that slippery semblance!

"Ugh… fine." Before Yang can get up Blake squats down besides her team leader, not making any indication of running away. "I give up fleeing, so let's get this over with."

The sight of these two girls' antics causes the captain to chuckle warmly, catching the attention of the huntress. "Don't you see, miss Belladonna? Your teammates are doing everything in their ability to keep you with them. I don't think they will run away just because you kept a secret from them."

"I… yeah, I guess so." Blake can't find anything wrong with that. Well, except that the captain seems to mistake Adam for the fourth member of their team. It's a small mistake on his part. "Thank you, captain Morgen."

While Blake doesn't admonish the captain's mistake, he certainly sees the change to give her a tip for improvement. "Then again, I would suggest that you at least change your surname if you want to try and hide your identity. With a surname like Belladonna it wouldn't surprise me if quite a few students and most of the staff already figured out that you were hiding a pair of ears like those."

"?" Yang doesn't understand that. What does the name Belladonna have to do with being a faunus? It doesn't ring any bells either with Vernal, though Adam knows what the captain is talking about. To make sure that the Schnee dog can't distort the truth Adam begins to explain part of Menagerie's history, his hand still on the hilt of Wilt:

"The Belladonna name is important for the faunus. Jabal Belladonna, the first chieftain of Menagerie, was beloved amongst his people for turning the west coast of the island from a barren wasteland into Kuo Kuana, a city that can rival any city of the four kingdoms. Out of respect many families took on the Belladonna name, causing it to become the most common surname on the island of Menagerie."

The reasoning of Adam is correct in the captain's eyes. "Indeed, when you think of the name Belladonna you think of a faunus from Menagerie. Then again," The captain muses over the possibilities of how Blake entered the school, "I believe that you shouldn't have to worry too much about your name or your race. In a huntsmen academy like Beacon a faunus should be standing on equal footing with the humans."

"O Really?" Adam says sarcastically, his scorn for this Schnee underling not subsiding. "And when do the faunus get to stand on equal footing with your Corporation? When will the Schnees stop with the oppression of faunuskind?!"

At hearing that the captain shakes his head, sad to see this hatred towards the SDC so misdirected. "Mister Adam, you misunderstand the problem. It's not true that Jacques Schnee hates the faunus, nor is he trying to oppress your race. Quite honestly, that man doesn't give a damn about your kind."

That comes as a surprise to both Adam and Blake who look genuinely shocked by this confession of apathy. Adam can't do more then stutter out a tame "W-What?" upon hearing it. The captain continues to explain just what the policy of his company is:

"All he cares about is earning money. The unsafe work environments, the meager salaries; everything is done just to squeeze out that extra bit of cash."

"Then what do you call the slaves that are working for him in the mines?" Adam angrily shouts out. "Those that the Schnees have branded as their own property like they were livestock?!"

The captain sighs, knowing full well what the faunus is talking about. "Officially we call them convicted laborers. While I don't know how well they're treated, I wouldn't be surprised if Jacques Schnee did something like branding because it would make him money."

This shocks the two human huntresses, astonished that such atrocities are happening back in Atlas. Especially Yang can't believe in that horrible reality, her eyes turning red: "Okay, there's no way that that's allowed. Why doesn't someone take legal action against that Schnee guy?"

Adam is pleased with Yang's willingness to defend the faunus, but harshly shoots down her idea: "Because it is legal by Atlesian law, Yang. We faunus 'officially' have equal rights to a human in Atlas." Adam says with the sarcasm in the word 'officially' obvious to all. "Then you slap us with the label of 'rabble rouser' or 'political prisoner' and suddenly it's perfectly fine to treat us like property."

"And the reason that it's mostly faunus who are forced into convicted labor is that most humans don't care what happens to the other race." He captain sighs, aware of the difficulties between the races. "There's no immediate solution to that problem."

That last statement angers Adam greatly, causing him to tighten his grip on Wilt as he furiously disagrees with the captain. "Oh, so I should just let it all happen, just like how you're not doing anything at all?!"

Several of the captain's men fall for that taunt, but he with a single gesture he stops them from attacking the taunting faunus. After all, he agrees with the taunt:

"Indeed, I am unable to do much without losing my job. All I can do is ensuring a fair treatment of my crewmembers. For everybody else I will put my faith in the hands of the next generation. While Jacques is a lost cause, I've seen his heir work together with the White Fang, willing to risk her life for humans and faunus alike. And while she will improve the situation in Atlas it's up to huntsmen like you to improve the relations between the races on this continent, proving to the world that humans and faunus can work together."

Before Adam can give a retort one of the crew members tells the captain that he's needed at the ship, cutting the conversation short. He apologizes to the quartet, only telling Blake that she's in good hands with her team. With that the captain walks away, the rest of the crew following him. The quartet are left alone on the docks, free to solve their own problems. After a few moments of stunned silence it is Yang who breaks the ice with her observation:

"Did that guy seriously think that Adam is our fourth member?"

Adam looks at Yang, his anger slowly fleeting. That Schnee lapdog can be dealt with later. His anger should be aimed at those who deserve it, and not here with these people.

"I'm not that much older than Blake." Adam points out with a smile, "but I suppose it does fit. I do make Vibrant as well as Ilia does, after all."

Yang lets out a chuckle at that, understanding how you can spell VYBA with either Adam or Amitola. Vernal and Blake groan at the joke, though not as much as when Yang would make such a joke.

When Yang finishes her chuckle Vernal takes this as the opportunity to get back on topic: "So Blake, why were you so bothered back then when we figured out you were a faunus?"

"!" Oh yeah. They've been talking about the atrocities of the Schnee for so long that Blake forgot about the reason she ran away from everyone. Unable to look her teammates in the eyes Blake explains her reasoning: "People are preconceived against the faunus. They judge you and treat you differently just for not being one of their race. I… I wanted to be treated for who I am, not for what I am."

Yang just looks at Blake with disbelief. "What, you think we're going to treat you any differently just because you're a faunus? We've been teammates for months now, did you learn nothing about us at all during that time? Who do we look like, Cardin and his goons?"

"N-No," Blake stammers out, "I don't mean it like that! It's just, I've been hiding it for so long, I feared anyone finding out. I was afraid that if you found out that I've been keeping this secret from you for so long, you would come to despise me."

"So?" Blake is not the only one who kept things hidden, as Yang points towards her partner. "Vernal kept the fact that she's my Mother's adopted daughter for as long as she could, and I don't despise her." At hearing that Blake just gives Yang a deadpan look, the team leader knowing just as well that what she just said isn't completely true. Vernal smirks, feeling the need to point this out to her team leader:

"Really, Yang? It appears we remember the evening after initiation differently."

"Okay," Yang rectifies herself, "you're right, Vernal. I did dislike you for a bit after learning who you really were, but that wasn't what made me dislike you. That because you're a prick."

"Love you too, Yang." Vernal mockingly replies. Yang rolls her eyes at that, but she must admit that she needs to change her argument a bit:

"Blake, I understand why you wear a bow. I even understand why you wanted to run away from us. But you seriously thought I would treat you any different because you're a faunus?"

"I-I…"

"Blake," Adam chimes in, surprising everyone when he support's Yang's argument: "I've heard enough about these girls from you and Ilia and I've seen what they've done. They're how humans are supposed to be. They are a credit to their race!"

Yang isn't sure how to respond to that, though Vernal nudges her partner to take the compliment. Adam continues with explaining to his lover that she should not worry about who she truly is with Yang and Vernal, as they are people who in his eyes will stand with the faunus.

Yang isn't sure how to follow up on Adam, so she just tells Blake how she feels: "Faunus or not, you're still our teammate. We've got each other's back, no matter what happens. So next time don't try to run off on your own when you can get at least three others to run with you, Blakey!"

Yang says the last line with some humor, her smile warmly shining from her face. Blake can't help but smile in return and accepts it. She apologizes for her actions, ready to go back to Beacon.

That answer is good enough for the members of Vibrant, as well as Adam. Now that Blake wants to go back to the place where he wants her to be everything is well again. "Well then, my darling, do you need me to give you a lift back to Beacon?"

Blake accepts the offer from her boyfriend and as a group the quartet ride back to the academy. Without police on their trail it is a rather smooth ride without interruptions. They safely arrive back at the academy in the early evening, where the trio of Vibrant part ways with Adam. Together they go back to their room, where they're greeted by a studying Ilia. Upon noticing the rest of her team Ilia stands up from her desk, giving everyone a smile that's quick obviously faked.

"Welcome back," Ilia says in a voice that's more tranquil then either of the three likes, "did you three have fun?"

The other three realize Ilia's mood from those words, Blake gulping in slight fear. "Ilia, are you mad?"

"I am trying very hard not to be, Blake." Ilia takes out her scroll, showing her teammates a certain news article that appeared on her scroll today:

 _Bikers escape police capture after hot pursuit._

Below the title a picture of the chase is visible, taken from one of the police cars. There are three people divided over two bikes. Though the faces are hidden by the motorcycle helmets, it's hard not to recognize Bumblebee for those who are familiar with the bike, and Ilia should recognize the clothes from those riding the yellow bike.

"Can you two explain why you two were chased by the police together with Adam?" Ilia asks to her team, really wanting to know what kind of shenanigans her teammates got in.

"You see…" Blake says nervously as she dances around the subject, "I may have kind of tried to-"

"Blake's identity as a faunus got discovered," Vernal interrupts, "she then tried to run away, and we had to find her before she left the city on a boat."

"…that, yes." Blake admits.

"WHAT?!" Ilia lets all her anger out, causing a rather strange phenomenon that the two humans haven't seen before. Her skin turns red, while her freckles, eyes and hair all turn as yellow as Yang's hair. It reminds Yang a bit of that children's movie where this one guy's hair turned into yellow flames whenever he got mad.

As Ilia lets out her anger, she realizes just what she did. Shocked and fearful the color is now draining from her face… literally, considering she turns stark white.

"A chameleon faunus?" Vernal remarks, recognizing what Ilia just did. Her being a faunus was kind of expected from the way Adam talked about Ilia, but Vernal must say she did not expect it to be such an uncommon variant.

Yang and Blake stare with surprise at Vernal, wondering how she knew that. Ilia would like to know as well, considering that her faunus trait is not a common one.

"The Branwen clan also contains a dozen or so faunus." Vernal explains to her team, 'One of them was this cat guy with retractable claws. He taught us about other types of faunus species with unobvious traits, and why someone who appears to be human doesn't necessarily need to be one. The color-changing chameleon faunus was one of those."

Ilia lets out a deep breath, the color in her face returning to normal.

"Yes, I'm a faunus." Ilia admits, seeing no more reason to keep it hidden. "Just like Blake, though in my case hiding my true nature is a little bit easier."

"Uh-huh." Vernal nods, having a feeling about the direction of this conversation. "And just like Blake, you want people to treat you for who you are, and not for what you are?"

"Yes…?"

Though Ilia's answer is spoken with a bit of uncertainty it's enough for Vernal. She proclaims to have no problem with Ilia's race and accept her for who she is. In her opinion they should drop this subject.

Ilia looks confused by how callously Vernal throws off this sensitive topic, while Vernal doesn't understand why Ilia is making such a ruckus about it: "What? We've had this same conversation just an hour ago with Blake. Cat faunus, Chameleon faunus, human; Who gives a damn?"

"I agree with Vernal." Yang exclaims, but immediately recoils from her own words. Wow, that felt strange to say. "I mean, we're friends, aren't we? We're supposed to help each other through thick and thin."

Vernal meant her words as "who cares what race you are as long as you pull your own weight", but Yang's words do have a better ring to them. Ilia on the other hand is not convinced, as Yang's words bring back memories:

"I've had those supposed friends." Ilia says, her skin changing to a darkish yellow while her hair becomes pitch-black. From the way that Ilia speaks Yang estimates that this color is either contempt or disgust. "People who I thought were friends but feared me when they found out I was a faunus. Those humans who laugh at faunus, and just watch as others mistreat the faunus, I loathe them."

Before Ilia can continue in her hate-filled rant Yang slings an arm around the chameleon faunus, pulling her in a one-handed hug. "Well then, do you hate us too?"

"No." Ilia admits, her skin turning back to normal. "I do like you, and Vernal… I suppose I like everyone from Juniper and Coffee as well. But that's it. All other-"

"Then it's settled!" Yang interrupts, not letting Ilia continue with that tirade. "Rather then stay angry at the likes of Cardin, just make more friends like us! You've already found nine humans you like, I'm pretty sure you can get that number into the double or even triple digits!"

Ilia lets out a sigh at Yang's antics, though the light-green color of her eyes betray her happiness. "Really, you're incorrigible."

"I don't know the meaning of that word!" Yang really doesn't. Then again, it's not like she cares about knowing or not knowing a word. What matters is that her team has bonded once more, the secrets they once had unable to get in the way of their vibrant team. The four of them will continue to rise to Beacon's top!

* * *

 **So, apparently this story has its own Tvtropes page now. I'm… honestly surprised that this story got one. Is A New World on her Shoulders good enough to warrant a trope page? If you consider this story to be that good, then I am honored that people put the work into creating that page.**

 **The page can still use some wiki love. It has a few flaws, and some important tropes of the story aren't written down on the page. I would like to do it myself, but it's bad form to alter the wiki page of your own work. Eh, I suppose I can just treat it like any other review, and answer the parts of Tvtropes here that need addressing:**

 _ **Tvtropes, Adaptational Heroism: Ilia left the White Fang with Blake and is trying to distance herself from them, correct?  
**_ **Okay, I am pretty sure that I've dropped enough hints that nobody should be surprised if I say that the connection Ilia and Blake have with the White Fang is still very active. Tauradonna is still a thing in this fic, for crying out loud! I mean, I did intend to make it seem like Adaptational Heroism in chapter 1-1, but I've dropped hints since that chapter that they never left. Maybe add an Averted Trope tag?**

 _ **Tvtropes, Expy: Many OC characters are based on people and characters from famous people and shows, correct?**_ **  
Many? No no no, I make all my named original characters expies of other people and characters, usually with themes for each group of OC's. So, let's put up a complete list of all expies in this story:**

 **Team RGAL: Teenage superhero sidekicks:  
Robin Bates: Robin (DC Comics)  
Gaia Greene: Terra (DC Comics)  
Ace Byre: Bucky Barnes (Marvel Comics)  
Laura Wolff: X-23 (Marvel Comics)**

 **Team JZME: Kings of Music  
Jacin Michaelis: Michael Jackson  
Dylan Zimmers: Bob Dylan  
Marlin Kingston: Bob Marley  
Elvio Jayhouse: Elvis Presley**

 **Team CROT: Shakespearean tragedies  
Cordelia Leir: King Lear  
Romy Julie: Romeo & Juliet  
Otto Moore: Othello  
Tidus Andronicus: Titus Andronicus**

 **Atlesian Teachers: Ridiculously human robots (and their creators)  
Colt Schwarzen: The Terminator  
Professor Katt-Grumm: Kokonoe Mercury (Blazblue) & Grumpy cat  
Tiger Iron: Iron Tager (Blazblue)  
Professor Shade: The Vision (Marvel Comics)**

 **Second-year and above Atlesian Teams: Fan-made RWBY teams  
Team Silver: team SLVR (SLVR web animation)  
Team Jade: team JPDE (JPDE project)**

 **Ship crew: Pirate and Privateer ships  
Captain Morgen Hind: The Golden Hind (Ship of Francis Drake)  
Tick J. Roger: The Jolly Roger (Ship of Captain Hook)  
Pearl Swann: The Black Pearl (Ship of Jack Sparrow)**

 **Other people:  
Hamelin: The Pied Piper of Hamelin  
Hameln: The children of Hamelin & Hameln (Mary Skelter)  
Peter March: The March Hare  
Ville d'Ecru: Cruella de Vil  
Horace, Jasper & Saul: Cruella de Vil's eponymous henchmen  
Ace Ops' old man: The Old Man and his Sons (Aesop's Fables) & [SECRET]  
Cheryl Oxholm: Sherlock Holmes  
Jabal Belladonna: Jadbalja, the golden lion (Tarzan)**

 _ **Tvtropes, Mythology Gag: You are making quite a few references to RWBY Chibi and Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, huh?  
**_ **Considering that I enjoy them both dearly and they're sort of part of the RWBY universe, I do like to include parts of them in the story where it fits. Then again, there are far more then those named on the page. Let's do a headcount:  
RWBY Chibi references found: 4/18  
Blazblue Cross Tag Battle references found: 1/9**


End file.
